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Reasons 


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THE  CHUEOH: 

HER  AUTHORITY  DERIVED  FROM  THE  PASTj 

HER  PRESENT  ADVANTAGES; 

HER  FUTURE  PROSPECTS. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/reasonsforbeingcOOIitt 


REASONS 


BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


ADDRESSED  TO  ENGLISH  SPEAKING  CHRIST- 
IANS OF  EVERY  NAME. 


/ 

BY 

THE  REV.  ARTHUR  WILDE  LITTLE,  M.  A., 

Rector  of  Saint  Paul's  Church, 

Portland,  Maine. 


MILWAUKEE,  WIS.: 

The  Youno  Churchman  Co.,  Publishebs. 

1S85. 


Copyrighted,  1885, 
By  ARTHUK  WILDE  LITTLE. 


printed  by 

King,  Lawton  &  Fowlk, 

milwaukee. 


TO 

THE  (  OMMUNICA]!^TS  OF   THE  CHURCH 

IN 

Saint  Paul's  Parish,  Portland,  Maine, 
THIS  VOLUME 

18 

Affectionately  Dedicated 

BY  THEIB 

Pastor  and  Friend,  The  Author. 


P  K  E  F  A  O  E  . 


THESE  Keasons  for  being  a  Churchman  are  addressed  to 
English  -  ST^eaking  Christians,  because  the  Anglican 
Church  is  that  part  of  the  Catholic  Church  which  has 
lawful  jurisdiction  over  that  part  of  the  earth  which  is  occu- 
pied by  the  English-speaking  race.  Our  Church  can  lay  no  just 
claim  to  the  obedience  of  Orientals,  Italians,  Frenchmen,  Mex- 
icans, and  the  like.  They  owe  allegiance  to  the  Dioceses  and 
Provinces  of  the  Church  Catholic  in  their  respective  countries. 
Of  their  peculiar  difficulties,  of  their  need  of  reformation,  and 
of  their  proper  courses  of  actioa,  it  is  no  part  of  this  book  to 
treat. 

The  object  in  view  is  twofold  :  — 

Eirst,  to  strengthen  those  who  are  already  in  actual  con- 
formity with  the  Anglo-Catholic  Church.  It  was  a  profound 
observation  of  our  great  Archbishop,  St.  Anselm  : 

"  Neglegentia  mihi  videtur  si,  postquam  conjirrnati  sumus  in 
Fide,  non  studemus  quod  credimus  intelligere."'^ 

This  "  negligence "  among  Churchmen  is  lamentable  and 
appalling  —  a  chief  cause  of  indifferentism  and  apostacy.  The 
Primate  of  All  England  recently  declared  :  "  There  is  perhaps 
not  even  now  one  Churchman  in  ten  who  is  as  well  instructed 

1.  It  seems  to  me  the  part  of  negligence  if,  after  we  have  been  confirmed  in 
the  Faith,  we  do  not  try  to  undei stand  what  we  believe. 


AUTHOR' 8  PREFACE. 


in  the  reasons  why  he  is  a  Churcliman,  as  Dissenters  or  Eoman 
Catholics  are  instructed  in  the  arguments  whereby  their  posi- 
tion is  defended.  This  sJiould  surely  be  remedied."  If  the  two 
million  nominal  adherents  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States 
did  but  fairly  appreciate  the  history,  the  claims,  and  the  bless- 
ings of  American  Catholicism,  the  individual  faith  and  piety 
and  the  general  influence  of  our  Church,  would  be  increased  an 
hundredfold. 

The  second  object  in  view  is  to  call  the  attention  of  our  non- 
conforming brethren  —  Koman  and  Protestant  alike — to  the 
historic  continuity,  the  divine  authority,  the  lawful  jurisdiction, 
the  true  Catholicity,  and  the  practical  advantages  of  the  vener- 
able Church  of  their  ancestors  and  ours,  the  Mother-Church  of 
the  English-speaking  race.  Those  who  have  of  late  conformed 
to  the  Church  (and  they  are  a  numerous  company)  agree  in  say- 
ing that  the  reason  they  did  not  "  come  home "  sooner,  was 
because  they  were  ignorant  of  their  "  Father's  House."  Surely 
the  claims  of  the  Eeformed  Catholic  Church  of  our  race— 
reformed  indeed,  but  Catholic  still  —  are  worth  considering. 

The  argument  is  stated  frankly  and  from  the  Catholic  stand- 
point. It  first  took  shape  in  a  course  of  Sunday  evening  lec- 
tures in  the  Parish  Church  of  St.  Paul,  Portland,  Maine.  It 
next  appeared  as  a  series  of  thirty-six  articles  in  a  leading 
Church  weekly.  2  It  is  now,  at  the  request  of  many  readers  — 
Bishops,  Priests,  and  laymen  —  sent  forth  in  book  form,  with  the 
prayer  that  it  may  contribute  something  to  tLe  glory  of  Incar- 
nate God  and  the  upbuilding  of  His  Kingdom  of  Grace. 

A.  W.  L. 

Portland,  Maine,  St.  Matthew's  Day,  1885. 

2  "The  Living  Church,"  Dec.  13th,  1884,  to  Aug.  22d,  1885. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

The  Question  Stated. 

The  Three  Divisions  or  English-speaking  Christiani?  —  Churchmen  — 
Recusants  —  ( The  essence  of  the  Reformation  —  Th<;  Italian 
Schism  in  England  and  Ireland)—  Dissenters  —  (Their  origin  and 
position)— Plan  of  Argument  —  Authority  —  Expediency  —Fu- 
ture Prospects,  .......  i_6 

CHAPTER  II. 
Did  God  Found  a  Church  which  Still  Exists? 

Theraison  d'etre  of  Man-made  Churches  — Church  in  Eden  —  Cov- 
enant of  Redemption  —  Patriarchal  Dispensation  —  Mosaic  — 
Jewish  Church  a  type  and  promise  of  the  Catholic  Church  — 
"The  Kingdom  of  God"  at  hand,  ....  7-14 

CHAPTER  III. 
Did  Christ  Found  a  Catholic  Church  which  Still 
Exists  ? 

Christianity  not  an  "  Idea,"  but  an  Organism  —  Christ's  Parables  — 
His  Promises  —  He  founds  His  Kingdom  on  Earth  —  Appoints 
a  permanent  self-perpetuating  Ministry  —  Apostolic  Succession 
in  a  single  clause,        -.-....         15-21 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Pentecostal  Church. 

Christ's  Commands  carried  out  by  the  Apostles  —  The  Descent  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  —  Picture  of  the  Apostolic  Church  —  No  Rom- 
anism —  No  Protestantism  —  Both  Inconceivable  in  the  Early 
Church, 22-31 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

Marks  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

Baptism  —  The  Doctrine  of  the  Apostles  —  The  Fellowship  of  the 

Apostles  — The  Breaking  of  the  Bread  — The  Prayers,  -         32-35 


CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Anglican  Church  and  Holy  Baptism. 

Continuity  of  the  Anglican  Church  —  What  is  Baptism?- Regener- 
ation not  Conversion  — Teaching  of  the  Bible  — Of  the  Fathers 
—  Infant  Baptism  — Uninterrupted  theory  and  practice  of  the 
Anglican  Church  — Importance  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  New 
Birth, 36-44 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Anglican   Church   and  "  The  Apostles'  Doc- 
trine." 

Episcopacy  not  everything — Anglican  Church  not  Roman,  and 
not  Protestant  — The  Primitive  Faith  — Holy  Scripture  — The 
Apostolic  Creed  —  Eastern  form,  Western  form  —  Nicaea  and 
Constantinople  — The  Athanapiun  Creed  — The  XXXIX.  Articles 
not  a  Creed  — The  Anglican  Church  always  Orthodox  —  "Infal- 
lible" Bishops  of  Rome  sometimes  hereticnl  —  Greek,  Anglican, 
and  Roman  Churches  have  the  same  i>eed —  Roman  Additions 
—  Relation  of  Dissenters  to  the  Apostolic  Faith,  -  -         45-67 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The     Apostles'    Fellowship  :     What    Saith    the 
Scripture  ? 

Apostolic  Episcopacy  necessary  to  the  unity,  continuity  and  au- 
thority of  the  Church  —  The  Apostolic  Office  permanent  —  The 
Three  Orders  — The  Perennial  Ivy  —  St.  Matthias  the  13th  Apos- 
tle —  St.  James  the  14th  —  Evidence  that  He  was  Bishop  of  Je- 
rusalem—Twenty  three  Men  called  Apostles  in  the  N.T.— Tim- 
othy Bp.  of  Ephesus  —  Titus  Bp.  of  Crete  —  Eighteen  others,        58-66 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE. 

Primitive  Episcopacy  and  its  Official  Titles. 

Three  Orders  —  Apparent  Confusion  of  Names  —  No  Confusion  of 
Orders  —  Priests  sometimes  called  "Bishops"  in  the  sense  of 
Pastors  or  Overseers  —  A  pustoli  sunt  EuUcopi  —  Evidence  that 
the  Apostles  who  Succeeded  the  Twelve  gradually  Appropriated 
the  title  of  Bishop  —  The  title  of  Apostle  lingered  in  some 
places  —  The  Dldache,  - 67-71 

CHAPTER  X. 

Primitive  Episcopacy   and   the  Testimony  of  the 
Apostolic  Faihers. 

Episcopacy  not  defended  in  the  Early  Church  because  not  an  open 
question  —  Apostolic  Order  Universal —Early  f'hurch  Presby- 
terial  only,  if  you  leave  out  the  Apostles  —  Diaconal,  if  you 
leave  out  both  ^postles  and  Presbyters  —  Episcopacy  not  Neces- 
sarily Diocfsad  —  Earliest  Witnesses— St.  Clement-  St.  Poly- 
carp  —St.  /(i)iatius—  Ilis  Epistles  to  the  Ephesians,  Magnesians, 
Trallians,  Romans,  Philadelphians,  Smyrnaeans,  and  to  Poly- 
carp,         -..---.-- 


72-^4 


CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Witness  of  the  Fathers — Continued. 

Admissions  of  Gibbon,  Guizot,  Grofi'j(8  — Strength  of  our  Position  — 
Churchmen  "No  Fools '"—Unanswered  Challenge  of  Hooker  — 
"Epistle  to  Diognetus"— Testimony  of  Dionysius;  of  S(.  Ire- 
nceu^;  of  Polycrates;  of  St.  Clement,  of  Alex.;  of  Tertullian; 
of  Origen;  of  St.  Cyprian,  etc.— "Study  the  Fathers,"  -         85-97 

CHAPTER  XII. 

If  the  Primitive  Catholic  Church  was  not  Epis- 
copal. What  was  It  ? 

Experiment  of  a  learned  Presbyterian  Minister  —  The  Historic 
Church  Episcopal  hermisc  it  slaited  sn  —  If  not,  when  and  how 
did  it  become  so  ?  —  No  instance  of  a  non-Episcopal  Church  — 
A  Camel  larger  than  the  wooden  Horse  of  Troy —  While  the 
Apostles  lived  the  Church  undeniably  Episcopal  —  The  post- 
Apostolic  Episcopate  dove-tailed  into  the  Episcopate  of  the 
Apostles  —  No  room  for  a  radical  change  of  polity  —  Could  such 
a  change  take  place  in  a  Protestant  denomination?  —  A  "tempest 
in  a  tea-pot"  —  How  revolutions  occur  —  Rise  of  the  Papacy  an 
example,  .....---       98-104 


CONTENTt^. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE. 

Desperate  Expedients  to  get  Rid  of  the  Bishops 
OF  THE  Early  Church. 

The  asBumption  that  a  Bishop  was  only  a  Pastor  of  one  Congregation 
—  How  about  Titus  ?  —  One  hundred  Cities  in  liis  Parish —  St. 
Jamks,  the  over-worked  Pastor ! — "Tens  of  tliousands"  of  parish- 
oners,  at  least  fifty  Churches  —  Ignatius  in  Antioch,  200,000  in- 
habitants, calls  himself  the  Bishop  of  Sjyn'a  — -  Onesemus;  one 
Parish  in  Ephesus  simply  preposterans  — Case  of  St.  Mark  in 
iilexandria  — Sf.  Cjyyria/i  in  Carthage;  great  multitude  of  clergy 
(not  "ruling  elders"  but  "Glorious  Priests");  Cathedral  and 
Ten  Churches  — The  "Moderator  Hypothesis,"  -  -      105-108 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A  Few  Fragments  that   Remain    Touching   Apos- 
tolic Succession. 

Evidence  of  Canons— Apostolic  Succession  not  a  Chain  but  a  net 
—  Illustrations  —  Quotations  from  Dr.  Hopkins—  From  Bishop 
Neely  — Evidence  from  Early  Schismatics,  Novatian  and  For- 
tnnatas  — From  Pagan  Writers  — From  Would-be-bishops,  Col- 
luthus,  Aerius,  his  '■'■clogmii  furiOKum  et  tttnlidum  "  —  The  Six 
General  Councils  — Archbp.  Potter  and  Lord  Macaulay  on  the 
Fact  of  A  pos.  Success,  ....--      109-116 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The   Anglican   Church   and   the  "Fellowship  of 
THE  Apostles." 

Importance  of  the  Catholic  Episcopate  -  Anglican  Church  Never 
Without  It— Early  Origin  of  Christianity  in  Britain— First  Bishop 
of  Rome  a  Britain— Did  St.  Paul  Preach  in  Britain?  —  Tes- 
timony of  Gildas,  Fortunutus  the  Poet;  Theodoret,  St.  Jerome, 
Eusebius,  Origen,  Tertulliaii,  Justin  Martyr,  St.  Clement  — 
Church  at  Glastonbury  —  St.  Alban,  our  Proto  martyr  —  Constan- 
tine  —  British  Bishops  at  Councils  of  Aries,  Nictea,  Sardica, 
Rimine  —  The  Anglo-Saxon  Conquest,      ...  -      117-124 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

PAGB. 

Anglo-Catholicism  ;  or,  the  Making  and  Estab- 
lishing OF  THE  Present  National  Church 
OE  England. 

The  Celtic  Churches,  Catholic,  iudependent  —  Queen  Bertha  and 
Bishop  Luidhard  —  The  Italian  Mission  —  Romish  errors  then 
unknown  —  Gregory  and  the  title  of  "  Universal  Bishop  "  —  Au- 
gustine ordained  in  France  —  Saxons  converted  mainly  by 
the  Celtic  Christians  —  Canterbury  —  Two  schools  of  thought  — 
Theodore  —  The  unification  and  establishment  of  the  Anglo- 
Catholic  Church  long  before  the  State,       -  -  -      125-131 

CHAPTER  XA^I. 
The  English  Church  never  the  Roman  Church. 

The  Ecc/esia  4nj7Zica?ia.  —  Lease  of  Church  property  for  999  years 

—  Mediaeval  corruptions  —  Usurpation  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
illustrated  by  Napoleon,  Sinbad,  etc.  —  Roman  influence  slight 
before  the  Norman  Conquest  —  Wilfrid  —  Cuthbert  —  Image- 
worship —  Offa  — The  "Forged  Decretals"  — Robert  and  Stigand 

—  William  and  Lanfranc  defy  the  Bishop  of  Rome  —  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  called  "the  Pope  and  Patriarch  of  another 
world"— Anti-Roman  legislation  — King  John  —  M<gna  Chaita 

—  i'wo  reforms  necessary :  to  free  the  State ;  to  free  the  Church 

—  The  leaal  freeing  of  the  Church  in  the  Fourteenth  Century  — 
The  prestige  of  Rome  broken  —  "  Rival  Popes  "  —  "  Reforming 
Councils  "  —  Greek  Churchmen  —  Henry  Y III.  —  The  "  Gordian 
Knot  "  —  The  Bishop  of  Rome  no  more  than  any  other  "  foreign 
Bishop "  — Queen  Mary  and  the  second  subjugation  of  our 
Church  —  Accession  of  Elizabeth,  -  -  132-144 

CHAPTER  XYII. 
Anglican  Orders. 

True  Catholics  —  Elizabeth  and  the  Papal  usurpation  —  Vacant 
Bishoprics  —  Election,  confirmation,  and  consecration  of  Arch- 
bishop Parker  —  Overwhelming  evidence  of  the  fact  —  The 
"  Nag's  Head  Fable  "  —  Marc  Antonio  de  Dominis  —  Irish  suc- 
cession—R.  C.  admissions  — American  and  Colonial  succession,  145-159 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XYII. 
Pius  IV.  and  the  English  Reformation. 

Hore  —  Jennings  —  Cutts  —  Blunt  —Van  Antwerp  —  Butler,       -      160-163 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PAGE. 

Anglican  Jurisdiction  and  Catholicity. 

Declaration  of  Lambeth  Council  —  Novelty  of  the  L' Itramoutane 
Theory  of  Jurisdiction  —  Inherent  Jurisdiction  of  Provincial 
and  Autocephalouis  Churches  -Early  English  Church  Complete 
iu  Itself  — Our  Reformers  did  not  Commit  the  Sin  of  Schism  — 
English  Romanists  Schismatic  —  Pius  IX.  and  Westminster  — 
English  Church  never  claimed  to  be  Anything  but  CathiiUc  — 
Quotations  from  Dr.  Coit,  and  Dr.  Seabury  — The  "Golden  Rule 
of  Faith," lG4-ir6 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Attitude  of  Dissent  Towards  Episcopacy. 

Difference  Between  the  Catholic  Reformation  in  England  and  the 
Protectant  Revolutions  on  the  Continent — Chan;^ing  Attitude 
of  Protestants  toward  Episcopacy — (1)  They  Believed  in  It, 
and  Regretted  their  Loss  of  It;  Luther,  Melancthon,  Beza,  Cal- 
vin, etc. —  2)  They  Blindly  and  Ignorantly  Assailed  It;  Drs. 
Miller  and  .McCloud— (3  Scholarly  Protestant  Reaction  in  Fa- 
vor of  It;  Drs.  Schaff  and  Fisher;  the  Concessions  of  Mosheim, 
Giese\<iT,  etc.— An  impirtant  consideration,     -  -  -      177-183 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Anglican  Church  and  Confirmation. 

Definition  of  Confirmation  —  Practiced  by  the  Apostles—  Scriptural 
evidence—  Patristic  —  Retained  in  the  Greek,  Roman,  and  Ang- 
lican Churches  —  Conflrmatiim  not  "joining  the  Church" — 
Protestants  feel  the  need  of  it,  -  -  -  -  -      184-193 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Anglican  Church  and  '"  The  Breaking  of  the 
Bread." 

One  true  Sacrifice ;  prefigured  in  the  Jewish  Chnrch,  commemorated 
in  the  Christian  Church  —  The  Altar  — The  Eucharist  also  a 
Communion.  —  What  the  N.  T.  says  of  it  —  The  Fathers  —  Two 
parts  of  the  Sacrament — Tran>uhx'a7itiatio}i  denies  the  real 
presence  of  the  Bread  and  Wine  —  Zivinglinnism  denies  the  real 
presence  of  Christ's  Body  and  Blo(.d  —  Growth  of  Transubstan- 
tiation  —  Forced  on  the  English  <  hurch  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury —  The  Catholic  Doctrine  restored  in  the  sixteenth  century 
—  Rise  of  "Half  Communion"  —  Declared  hcnxy  by  three 
Bishops  of  Rome  —  Received  unwillingly  in  the  English  '  hurch 
in  fifteenth  century  —  The  Chalice  restored  in  the  sixteenth  — 
Growth  of  the  Zwinglian  impiety  —  Nevtr  sanctioned  in  the 
Anglo-Catholic  Church,         ...  -  -      194-205 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PAGE. 

"The  Prayeks." 

Liturgical  Worship  a  Mark  of  the  Church  — Jewish  Worship:  Tem 
pie,  Synagogue  — The  Apostles  Trained  to  Liturgical  Worship  — 
Endorsed  by  Christ —  Glimpses  of  Liturgical  Worship  in  the  N. 
T.— The  Liturgy  of  the  Passover  — Oral  Liturgy  of  the  Apostles 
—  Four  Great  Types  —  Parts  Common  to  Each  —  Worship  of  the 
Early  Church— Pliny,  Justin  Martyr  —  Specimen  of  the  Oldest 
Extant  Liturgy  — Remarkable  Agreement  of  Our  Liturgy,      -      206-220 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Anglican  Church  and  "The  Prayers." 

Our  Church  Inherited  Catholic  Worship  —  Liturgy  of  St.  John  — 
British  Liturgy  —  Influence  of  Augustine  -  The  Roman  Brev- 
iary and  Missal  never  Used  in  England  —  Latin  Services  — Crea- 
ture-worship—Devotional  and  Liturgical  Reform  — The  Prayer 
Book  of  1549— Subsequent  Revisions  — Anglican  P.  B.  dear  to 
outsiders  — Luther,  Calvin,  Knox,  etc..  Believed  in  Liturgical 
Worship— Amazing  Devotions  of  English  and  American  Dis- 
senters —  "Sam.  Lawson's"  Philosophy  of  Prayer  — Dr.  Mines 
-  Extemporary  Prayer  the  Work  of  Jesuits  in  England  — Pro- 
testant Reaction  in  Favor  of  Liturgical  Worship— Thank  God 
for  the  Prayer  Book, -  221-229 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Close  of  the  Argument  for  the  Church's  Author- 
ity Based  on  Historic  Continuity. 

Our  Church  has  retained  the  accessories  of  Catholic  worship  — 
Bodily  reverence  — Scriptural  warrant  —  Usage  of  Early  Church 
—  Bowing  at  the  Sacred  Name  —  The  Christian  Year  —  Jewish 
Feasts  and  Fasts  —  Origin  of  the  Church's  Calendar  —  Retained 
in  the  Anglo-Catholic  Church  —  So  with  other  things:  Ordina- 
tion, Absolution,  Church  Architecture,  Vestments,  etc.  —  Special 
defense  of  Vestments  —  Continuity,  the  key-note  of  the  Anglo- 
Catholic  position  —  Summary  of  the  Historic  Argument  - 
Charity  to  non-conformists,  .  .  .  -  •      230-240 


CONTENT.^. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

PAGE. 

The  Argument  from  Expediency. 

Authority  ought  to  be  sufficient  —  "P/(iB>c>iptw  in  limine"  — 
Comparison  of  the  three  Systems  —  The  Anglican  holds  to  the 
Past  and  adapts  itself  to  the  Present  —  All  the  Elements  of  true 
Catholicity  not  only  authoritative  but  practicnlln  advantageous 
—  Protestant  Dissenters  adopting  the  Church's  Ways  —  Two 
noted  Tributes  to  the  Church  by  disinterested  Observers  —  The 
Power  of  the  Historic  Church  to  evoke  enthusiastic  Love — "The 
Bride  of  Christ" —The  Ca(/io»c2df  a,      -  -  -      241-251 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
The  Argument  from  Futurity. 

(I.)  Which  System  has  the  Brightest  Outlook?  —  Anglican  Pros- 
pects Last  Century  —  Revival  of  Church-life  —  The  Wesleys,  the 
"Evangelical  Movement,"  the  "Oxford" — Church  Growth  in 
England  and  the  United  States  —  Prospects  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Race  and  the  English  Language  — An  unfair  Comparison  — An- 
glican Prospects  Brighter  than  Roman  —  Roman  Schism  losing 
Ground  in  England  —  Dependent  on  Immigration  in  the  United 
States  — The  United  States  the  Paradise  of  Protestantism  — Ele- 
ments of  Disintegration  and  Decay  ^Protestantism  about  to 
Pass  through  a  Fearful  Ordeal  —  Protestant  Paralogism— T!ti& 
Churchman  has  Nothing  to  Fear. 
(II.)  The  Anglican  Church  Siirei't  to  Keep  the  Frtif?i  — Roman  Ad- 
ditions to  the  Faith  Driving  Men  to  Infidelity —"  Infallibility," 
What  Next?— Protestantism  Losing  the  Faith  (Unitarianism) — 
Lacks  the  Conservative  Orthodoxy  of  the  Church. 
(III.)  Which  System  Offers  the  Best  Basis  for  the  Reunion  of  Christ- 
endom?— Not  the  Roman,  L'nless  it  Gives  Up  the  Papacy,  etc.— 
The  Anglican  Church  a  Medium  of  Reunion  —  So  Acknowledged 
by  French  Roman  Catholics  —  Catholic  and  Reformed  —  Let 
Komanists  Lay  Aside  Novel  Additions,  and  Protestants  Restore 
Omitted  Essentials,  and  they  will  find  themselves  Catholics  — 
Nothing  Unreasonable  is  Asked  —  Summary  and  Conclusion,       252-266 

BISHOP  JEREMY  TATLOR'S 

Prater  for  the  Whole  Catholic  Church. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    QUESTION    STATED. 

*'Be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the 
hope  that  is  in  you." — 1.  St.  Peter,  iii.  15. 

ENGLISH  speaking  Christians  are  divided  into  three 
great  classes — Churchmen,  Recusants,  and  Dissenters. 
These  terms  have  established  themselves  In  literature  ;  and 
without  implying  any  opprobrium,  stand  for  important 
historical  facts. 

Churchmen  are  those  who  adhere  to  that  old  Catholic 
and  Apostolic  Church  which,  after  sundry  deformations, 
and  reformations,  but  without  losing  its  corporate  identity, 
its  historic  continuity,  or  its  divine  authority,  still  main- 
tains primitive  faith,  order,  and  worship,  and  exercises 
lawful  jurisdiction  throughout  the  British  Empire  and  the 
American  Republic.  Churchmen  are  variously  called 
Anglicans,  Anglo-Catholics,  or  Episcopalians.  They  num- 
ber about  225  Bishops,  30,000  priests,^  and  some  25,000,- 
000  adherents. 

Recusant  means  Refuser.  The  term  was  originally  ap- 
plied to  those  members  of  the  English  Church  who,  after 
the  Reformation,  refused  the  Church's  ministrations  ;   and, 

1.    Including  a  small  number  of  Deacons. 


2  REASON'S  FOR  BEINO  A  CHURCHMAN. 

at  the  instigation  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  formed  the  first 
English  schism. 

The  essence  of  the  Reformation  in  our  Mother  Church 
was  the  assertion  of  her  ancient  independence  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  together  with  the  correction  of  certain 
abuses.  The  Enghsh  Bishops,  clergy,  and  laity,  as  a 
body,  acquiesced  in  the  change  which  was  a  mere  episode 
in  the  chequered  history  of  Anglo-Catholicism.  Out  of 
9,400  clergy  only  189  refused  to  accept  the  now  order  of 
things.  The  lait}'-,  including  those  who  really  believed  in 
the  Papacy,  were  quietly  settling  down  in  the  freed  and 
purified  Church  of  England  f  when  in  the  year  1570,  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  Plus  V.,  lost  his  temper,  and  com- 
manded the  "faithful"  to  withdraw  from  the  English 
Church.  A  mere  handful  obeyed  his  mandate  ;  and  leav- 
ing the  ancient  Catholic  Church  of  their  country,  formed 
the  Roman  Schism  or  Italian  Slission  in  England.  That 
they  were  conscientious  in  so  doing  we  cannot  doubt. 
They  have  borne  up  bravely  against  civil  persecutions,  and 
manifold  difficulties  ;  but  have  made  almost  no  impression 
on  the  nation  at  large,  and  are  now  relatively  losing 
ground.  It  was  only  as  late  as  1850  that  they  effected  a 
regular  organization  in  England  with  diocesan  Bishops 
and  a  full  Roman  hierarchy.  In  Ireland,  however,  owing 
mainly  to  political  causes,  the  Italian  ISIission  was  more 
successful  and  drew  away  a  large  majority  of  the  laity. 


2.  "  For  diverse  j'cars  in  Qneen  Elizabeth's  reign  there  was  no  Recusant 
known  in  England;  but  even  they  who  were  most  addicted  to  Koman  opinion?, 
yet  frequented  our  Churches  and  public  assemblies,  and  did  join  with  us  in  the 
use  of  the  same  prayers  and  divine  ofBces,  without  any  scruple,  till  they  were 
prohibited  by  a  papal  bull  for  the  interest  of  the  Roman  Court." — Abchbishop 

J5RAMHALL.      I.  348. 


AUTHORITY. 


but  not  many  of  the  clergy,  of  the  venerable  Church  of 
St.  Patrick's  planting.^ 

Such  is  the  position  of  the  Recusants  or  Refusers  of 
Anglo-Catholic  reform.  They  are  variously  styled  Roman- 
ists, Roman  Catholics  or  Papists.  They  have  intruded 
also  into  the  jurisdiction  of  the  American  Church,  and 
have  many  adherents,  mainly  Irish  and  Germans. 

The  third  division  of  English-speaking  Christians  com- 
prises the  Dissenters.  As  Romanists  objected  to  the  Eng- 
lish Reformation  because  they  thought  it  had  gone  too 
far,  so  certain  others,  who  had  imbibed  the  novelties  of 
German  Protestants  and  French  Calvinists,  objected  be- 
cause, forsooth,  they  fancied  it  had  not  been  sweeping 
enough.  At  first  they  were  few  in  number,  and  for  the 
most  part  remained  in  communion  with  the  Church — 
which  even  to  this  day  shelters  in  her  bosom  many  whose 
real  sympathies  lie  with  those  who  went  out  from  her. 

Recusants  and  Dissenters  alike  left  their  Mother  Church, 
but  with  this  distinction:  the  former  in  seceding  placed 
themselves  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  foreign  Bishop,  the 
Italian  Pontiff ;  while  the  latter  broke  altogether  with  the 
Church  of  the  past,  cast  aside  all  ecclesiastical  authority, 
organized  themselves  into  new  voluntary  societies — not  at 
first  calling  them  churches,  though  they  have  since  come 
to  do  so — and  ordained  their  ministers  by  the  authority 
of  the  congregation.  The  action  of  the  Recusants  was 
schism;  that  of  the  Dissenters,  sectarianism. 

3.  Of  all  the  Irish  Bishops  (and  there  were  a  great  many  of  them  for  the  size 
of  the  country),  only  fu)o,  Walsh,  Bishop  of  Meath,  and  Leveroiis,  Bishop  of 
Kildare,  refused  to  accept  the  Eeformation,  and  left  the  "Church  of  Ireland." 
The  rest  remained  in  the  old  Church,  and  the  Bishops  of  the  present  "  Church  of 
Ireland"  are  their  successors. 


4  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  describe  the  different  dissenting 
communions.  The  principle  of  sectism  once  introduced 
is  fruitful  of  sub-division — like  a  fresh-water  Polypus  it 
multiplies  by  "  fission  "  in  a  geometrical  ratio.  The  Pres- 
byterians left  us  in  1573.  The  Brownists  or  Independents, 
afterward  called  Congregationalists,  began  to  secede  ten 
years  later.  They  were  followed  by  the  Baptists,  the 
Quakers,  the  Methodists,  etc.,  etc.,  for  their  name  is  legion. 
There  are  now  nearly  150  dissenting  bodies  in  England, 
and  while  the  actual  number  of  Dissenters  is  diminishing, 
the  number  of  sects  into  which  they  are  splitting  up  is 
constantly  on  the  increase.^  Even  the  Methodist  body 
which  began  but  a  century  ago  has  already  broken  up 
into  at  least  25  distinct  denominations.  In  the  United 
States  the  fragmentary  and  disintegrated  character  of 
Christianity  is  simply  appalling. 

All  these  denominations,  of  course,  differ  among  them- 
selves ;  but  from  a  Church  standpoint  they  may  be  classi- 
fied together  as  having  certain  general  characteristics,  viz: 
the  breaking  away  from  the  historic  Church,  the  rejection 
of  the  Apostolic  Ministry — with  a  special  disbelief  both 
in  the  Episcopate  and  the  Christian  Priesthood — a  lower- 
ing or  distortion  or  even  abolition  of  the  Sacraments,  a  re- 
jection of  Common  Prayer  and  impressive  services  in 
place  of  which  are  substituted  much  preaching  and  the 
extemporaneous  devotions  of  a  leader,  the  abandonment 
of  the  Christian  Year  which  is  so  precious  and  profitable 
to  us,  and  finally  a  great  confusion  in  doctrine  occasioned 
sometimes  by  elevating  philosophical  systems  to  the  place 

4.    See  "  Cutt's  Turning  Points  in  Enc;.  Ch.  Hist.,"  p.  317. 


AUTHORITY. 


of  dogma,  and  again,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Unitarians,  by- 
actual  apostacy  from  the  fundamentals  of  the  Christian 
religion. 

The  Dissenters  are  variously  styled  Nonconformists, 
Separatists,  Sectarians,  or,  from  an  Anglo-Catholic  stand- 
point, Protestants,  as  protesting  against  the  old  historic 
Church.  They  number  about  one-fourth  of  the  English, 
the  major  part  of  the  Scotch  among  whom  Presbyterian- 
ism  is  established  by  law,  a  small  proportion  of  the  Irish, 
and  a  vast  majority  of  American  Christians. 

To  one  or  other  of  these  three  great  classes  of  Christians 
we  all  belong,  many  of  us  perhaps  without  being  able  to 
justify  our  position  or  to  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is 
in  us.  It  is  my  purpose  to  state  as  simply,  clearly,  and 
accurately  as  I  can,  the  chief  reasons  for  being  Church- 
men instead  of  being  Romanists,  or  Dissenters — and  this 
I  do  with  the  prayer  for  divine  guidance,  "  with  charity  for 
all,  with  malice  toward  noney 

The  first  question  is  :  Did  God  found  an  universal 
Church  which  claims  the  allegiance  of  mankind?  Does 
that  Church  anywhere  exist  in  its  essential  purity,  and  if 
so,  does  the  Anglican  Church  fulfill  the  requirements? 
This  may  be  called  the  argument  from  authority,  and  is 
based  on  an  appeal  to  history,^ 

The  second  consideration  is  that  of  present  expediency, 
based  on  the  comparative  merits  of  the  three  systems  so 
far  as  their  practical  methods  of  worship,  teaching  and 
work  are  concerned. 


5.  "  It  may  be  asserted  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  the  whole  case  of 
the  Romanising  movement  on  the  one  side  and  of  popular  Protestantism  on  the 
other,  rests  upon  perversions  of  history." — (English)  Ch.  Times. 


6  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

The  third  argument,  or  argument  from  futurity,  will  be 
drawn  from  a  consideration  of  future  prospects.  Which 
system  is  likeliest  to  be  the  basis  for  restoring  the  broken 
unity  of  Christendom,  and  likeliest  to  hold  the  Faith  till 
the  Master  comes  ? 

Our  theme  then  is  :  The  Church,  her  authority  derived 
from  the  past,  her  present  advantages^  and  her  future  prospects. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DID   GOD    FOUND    A  CHURCH   WHICH    STILL   EXISTS  ? 
[  "Ah  origine  mundi  incipiens.''^'\ 

IT  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  ask  this  question.  But 
it  is.  The  raison  d'etre  of  man-made  churches,  the 
only  possible  justification  of  dissent,  must  logically  be  the 
assumption  either  that  God  did  not  found  a  Church,  or 
else  that  the  Church  He  founded  has  perished  from  the 
earth.  Now,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  God  did  found  a 
Church  which  still  exists,  surely  no  one  can  fail  to  see  his 
personal  duty  with  reference  to  it. 

Our  first  parents,  even  before  they  fell  into  sin,  were  ad- 
mitted into  covenant  relation  with  God,  which  was  the 
germ  of  all  subsequent  ecclesiastical  dispensations.  "  Eden 
was  an  enclosure  from  the  outside  world,  the  Church 
where  the  Son  of  God  personally  met  man  and  told  him 
of  his  duty  of  faith  and  obedience,  and  of  the  penalty  that 
would  follow  unbelief  and  disobedience.  That  Church 
was  the  root  of  Christianity,  and  it  was  designed  to  pass 
through  several  stages  of  development  before  it  attained 
its  maturity."  ^ 

After  the  fall  of  man  God  continued  that  Church,  but 

1.  Dr.  C.  C.  Adams  in  Am.  Ch.  Rev.,  Oct.,  1884. 


8  REASOirS  FOR  BEING  A  CHUBCIIMAN. 

altered  its  character  to  suit  the  changed  relation  between 
Him  and  His  now  disobedient  children.  Sin  had  destroyed 
the  sweet  communion  of  Eden,  and  in  its  place  God  ap- 
pointed a  Covenant  of  Redemption,  based  on  the  sacrificial 
death  of  the  promised  Seed  of  the  woman  who  should 
bruise  the  serpent's  head,  the  Lamb  of  God  who,  in  the 
knowledge  and  purpose  of  the  Almighty,  was  "the  Lamb 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." ^  All  history, 
ancient  or  modern,  centres  in  the  Incarnation  and  sacrifice 
of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  so,  from  the  offering  of  righteous 
Abel  to  the  latest  Eucharistic  Oblation  upon  the  Table  of 
the  Lord,  Sacrifice  has  ever  been  the  chief  characteristic  of 
God's  Church  ;  while  even  the  heathen  who  left  the  wor- 
ship of  the  true  God,  never  entirely  lost  the  God-given 
conviction  that  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no 
remission  of  sin. 

Thus  the  Church  of  the  Patriarchal  Dispensation  was 
ushered  in,  and  as  we  read  in  Gen.  iv.,  26,  "  Then  began 
men  to  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Before  the  flood, 
however,  dissent  in  its  worst  form,  as  utter  apostasy,  pre- 
vailed to  a  greater  extent  than  at  any  subsequent  period. 
The  "  Sons  of  Men  "  so  far  outnumbered  the  "  Sons  of 
God,"  that  the  Church  was  narrowed  down  to  one  family 
of  but  eight  souls.  After  the  flood  God  renewed  His 
Covenant  with  man  in  the  person  of  Noah  ;  and  again  in 
the  case  of  Abraham,  at  which  time  He  appointed  an  ad- 
ditional rite  for  the  initiation  of  infants  and  of  adult  con- 
verts into  His  Church,  viz  :  Circumcision.  At  the  same 
time  he  cut  ofl"  the  apostate  races,  so  that  the  Church  was 

2.  Rev.,  xiii.,  8. 


AUTHORITY. 


continued  in  the  family  of  Abraham,  whose  descendants 
in  the  line  of  his  grandson,  Jacob,  became  the  "  chosen 
people,"  whose  great  work  in  history  was  the  keeping  alive 
the  worship  of  Jehovah  in  the  midst  of  an  idolatrous 
world,  in  order  that  there  might  be  one  orthodox  nation 
of  which,  according  to  the  flesh,  the  Son  of  God  should  be- 
born,  and  which  should  form  the  nucleous  of  anew,  higher,, 
world-wide  and  eternal  Dispensation  which  God  was  about 
to  introduce. 

God's  revelation  of  Himself  and  the  building  up  of  His 
Kingdom  of  Grace  on  the  earth  have  been  jDrogressive. 
We  have  seen  something  of  the  Patriarchal  Dispensation 
in  which  the  priesthood  was  vested  in  the  eldest  son.  A 
great  step  was  made  in  the  development  of  revealed 
religion,  when  God  through  Moses  gave  Israel  the  Deca- 
logue and  the  Ceremonial  Law.  From  that  time  to  the- 
coming  of  Christ  no  Christian  can  deny  that  there  has 
existed  on  the  earth  an  organization  fully  entitled  to  be 
called  the  Church  of  God.  As  under  the  previous  Dispensa- 
tion, so  here,  sacrifices  typifying  the  one  great  Sacrifice  to 
come,  were  the  most  notable  feature  of  the  Church. 
''  Gather  my  saints  together  unto  me,"  saith  the  Lord, 
"  those  that  have  made  a  covenant  with  me  with  sacri- 
fice." 3  God,  moreover,  gave  explicit  directions  as  to  the 
polity  and  worship  of  the  Jewish  Church.  "  See  thou 
make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern  showed  thee  in 
the  mount."*  Instead  of  the  Patriarchal  Priesthood  there 
was  now  established  a  Ministerial  Succession  in  three  orders 
in  the  tribe  of  Levi — the  High  Priest,  the  Priests  and  the 
Levites.     And  when  once  God  had  ordained  this  ministry,. 

3.  Ps.,  1.,  5.    4.  Heb.,  viii.,  5. 


10  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Pie  showed  that  He  meant  it  to  be  sacred  and  exclusive 
"by  making  a  fearful  example  of  those  who  presumed  to 
usvirp  its  functions.  Witness  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram^  ; 
or  Saul  ^ ,  Uzzah ''  ,  and  Uzziah  ^  ;  and  when,  after  the 
secession  and  schism  of  the  ten  Northern  tribes,  Jeroboam 
intruded  into  the  Priestly  Office  men  who  were  not  of  the 
house  of  Aaron,  we  read,  "  this  became  a  sin  unto  the  house 
of  Jeroboam,  to  cut  it  off  and  to  destroy  it  from  the  face 
of  the  earth,"  9 

In  the  matter  of  public  worship  in  the  Jewish  Church, 
we  see  clearly  that  God  recognizes — what  modern  Protes- 
tants have  affected  to  ignore — the  material  as  well  as  the 
spiritual  side  of  human  nature  ;  for  He  ordained  in  the 
Tabernacle  and  Temple  worship,  a  grand,  stately,  ornate, 
symbolic  office  of  sacrifice  and  thanksgiving,  of  prayer  and 
praise  —  a  liturgic  service  the  most  ritualistic  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  or  that  in  all  probability  we  ever  shall  see,  until 
with  angels  and  archangels  and  all  the  company  of  Heaven 
we  join  in  the  celestial  ritual  of  the  Triumphant  Church. 
Bodily  reverence  accompanied  the  devotion  of  the  heart. 
There  was  the  mitred  High  Priest  resplendent  in  purple 
and  gold  ;  there  were  the  white-robed  Priests  and  Levites, 
and  the  singers  with  their  accompanjing  instruments ; 
there  were  the  Holy  of  Holies,  the  Ark  witii  its  overshad- 
owing Cherubim,  the  altar  of  incense,  the  golden  Candle- 
sticks, the  table  of  Shew-bread,  the  great  Altar  of  Sacrifice, 
and,  all  about,  the  prostrate  multitudes  v/orshipping  the 
God  and  Father  of  all. 

The  Jewish  Church  had  also  its  God-given  ecclesiastical 

5.  Xiimbers,   xvi.    6.  I.  Samuel,  xiii.,  9-15.     7.  II.   Samuel,  vi.,  G-7.    8.  II. 
Chronicles,  xxvi.,  16-21.    9.  I.  Kings,  xiii.,  34. 


AUTHORITY.  11 


year  with  its  round  of  Holy  Days — the  three  great  Festi- 
vals, the  Solemn  Fast  Day  of  Atonement,  the  Minor  Feasts. 
and  the  fifty-two  Sabbaths. 

Later  on,  probably  in  the  time  of  Ezra,  there  grew  up 
also,  under  divine  approval,  if  not  by  direct  command,  the 
system  of  Synagogue  worship  and  instruction,  with  its 
eighteen  Collects,  its  versicles  and  responses,  its  singing, 
its  reading  of  Scripture  Lessons,  and  the  preaching  and 
expouncHng  of  God's  word.'*^ 

Such  was  the  Jewish  Church,  with  its  long  line  of 
Prophets,  Priests  and  Kings ;  Martyrs  and  Confessors ; 
holy  men  and  saintly  women  ;  and  the  little  children  who 
were  also  admitted  into  the  Covenant,  who,  like  Samuel, 
were  "  given  unto  the  Lord."  "  These  all  died  in  faith, 
not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen  them 
afar  off,  and  were  persuaded  of  them,  and  embraced  them, 
and  confessed  that  they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on 
the  earth."  ^1  And  yet,  as  glorious  as  was  that  Church,  as 
exalted  in  point  of  privilege  as  were  the  saints  of  old,  we 
read  that  God  had  "  provided  some  better  things  for  us, 
that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect."  ^^  Yes, 
this  Church  was  not  a  final  Dispensation.  It  was  a  type 
of  an  ultimate  and  glorious  one  to  come.  "  The  Law  was 
■our  Schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ."  i3  The  root  of 
the  olive  was  there,  but  new  branches  were  to  be  grafted 
into  it.^'*  The  Jewish  Church  was  National.  It  is  true. 
Gentiles,  who  abandoned  their  Paganism,  might  enter  it 
through  the  door  of  circumcision  ;  yet  it  was  not,  as  then 
■constituted,  adapted  for  universal  dominion.     But  all  the 

10.  Geikie's  Life  of  Christ,  Chap.  xiii.    11.  Hebrews,  xi.,  13.      12.  Hebrews 
xi.,  40.    13.  Galatians,  Hi,  24.    14.  Romans,  xi.,  lT-24. 


12  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

while  the  Prophets  used  to  sing  of  a  Coming  Era,  when 
Zion  should  lengthen  her  cords  and  strengthen  her  stakes. 
Bear  in  mind  that  the  point  here  to  be  proved  is  that 
God  founded  a  Church  which  still  exists.  I  have  shown 
that  God  did  have  a  Church  in  the  days  of  old,  the  Jewish 
Church.  It  is  now  my  purpose  to  show  that  Christ  did 
not  change  the  divine  plan  by  abrogating  the  Church  as  a 
visible  organism,  but  that  He  continued  it,  only  on  a  higher 
plane  rendered  possible  by  virtue  of  the  Incarnation.  The 
old  Dispensation  was  but  the  shadow  of  good  things  to 
come.  The  first  step  in  proving  the  existence  of  the  Christ- 
ian Church  is  a  i^Tiori,  that  is  to  say,  we  gather  from  the 
types  and  prophecies  of  the  Jewish  Church  the  presump- 
tion and  promise  of  the  Catholic  Church.  If  God  saw 
that  it  was  best  to  embody  His  revelation  of  old  in  an 
organized  society  with  a  threefold  Priesthood,  rites  and 
ceremonies,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  He  would  continue  the 
Church  in  the  Christian  Dispensation  on  the  same  general 
principles  This  presumption,  however,  becomes  a  promise 
when  we  open  the  treasury  of  divine  prophecy.  The 
prophecies  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  Old  Testament 
are  intimately  associated  with  the  predictions  of  the  com- 
ing Messiah.  To  give  the  tenth  part  of  the  prophecies 
which  taught  that  the  JcAvish  Church  should  widen  into 
an  universal  Church,  would  require  more  space  than  is  at 
my  command.  But  this  was  the  meaning  of  God's  words 
when  he  said  to  Abraham  :  "  In  thy  seed  shall  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  ^^  Such,  too,  was  the  testi- 
mony of  the  dying  Patriarch,  Jacob,  when  he  said  of  Christy 
"Unto  Him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be,"^^ — ^the 

15.  Genesis,  xxii.,  18.    16.  Genesis,  xlix.,  10. 


AUTHORITY.  13 


same  truth  which  the  Holy  Ghost  spake  through  the  Sweet 
Singer  of  Israel,  "Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the 
heathen  for  thy  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
■earth  for  thy  possession,"^"  and  again:  "All  kings  shall  fall 
■down  before  Him  ;  all  nations  shall  do  Him  service,"  ^^  the 
truth  vt^hich  Isaiah  perceived  when  he  cried  out :  "  Lift 
up  thine  eyes  round  about  and  see  ;  all  they  gather  them- 
selves together,  they  come  to  Thee.  The  forces  of  the  Gen- 
tiles shall  be  converted  unto  Thee."  ^^  This  truth  pervades 
all  holy  prophecy,  but  is,  perhaps,  most  clearly  set  forth 
in  Daniel's  vision  of  the  stone  cut  out  without  hands,  which 
smote  the  image  and  became  a  mountain,  and  filled  the 
whole  earth.  ^^  This,  Daniel  interpreted  to  mean  that  in  the 
days  of  the  fourth  kingdom  (the  Roman  Empire)  "  shall 
the  God  of  Heaven  set  up  a  Kingdom  which  shall  never 
be  destroyed  ;  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other 
people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these 
kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  forever."  -^  And  again  he  says 
he  looked,  and  "  Behold  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man  came 
with  the  clouds  of  heaven  *  *  *  and  there  was  given 
unto  him  dominion  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  peo- 
ple, nations,  and  languages  should  serve  him."  ^^  Yes,  from 
that  far  off  antiquity,  as  from  a  lofty  mountain  top,  the 
holy  Prophets,  with  the  eye  of  Inspiration,  saw  the  nar- 
row covenant  of  Judaism  widening  into  the  Church  Cath- 
olic throughout  the  world  —  saw  by  faith  what  we  now  see 
with  the  eye  of  sense,  the  universal  and  everlasting  king- 
dom of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Buoyed  up  by  this  hope,  the  Saints  of  the  old  Dispen- 

17.  Psalms,  ii.,  8.     18.  Ps.,  Ixxii;  Read  the  whole  Psalm.     10.  Is.,  Ix.     20. 
iDan.,  ii.,  34-5.    21.  Dan.,  ii.,  44.    22.  Dan.,  vii.,  13-14. 


14  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCH3IAN. 

sation  clung  to  their  Church,  looking  for  tlie  "  Consolation 
of  Israel  "  and  the  ingathering  of  the  Gentiles. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-six  years  ago  Christ  was 
born — the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  men  ; 
God  stooped  to  earth  to  redeem,  to  sanctify  and  to  save 
mankind.  We  have  seen  that  God's  plan  of  saving  men  is 
not  merely  as  individuals,  but  in  and  through  an  organized 
society.  And  so  just  before  our  blessed  Lord  began  His 
ministry,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  Morning  Star  of  Christ- 
ianity, preached,  saying,  "  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand." 
Notice  he  did  not  teach  that  the  Church  idea  of  religion 
was  to  be  done  away  so  that  there  should  no  longer  be  a 
visible  organization.  On  the  contrary  he,  the  Forerunner 
of  Christ,  prepared  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  receive  the 
religion  of  Christ,  not  as  an  abstract  philosophy,  but  as  a 
Kingdom — and  that  word  implies  more  strongly  than  any 
other  could  do,  that  the  Christian  Dispensation  was  to  be 
an  organized  authoritative  body,  "  a  city  that  is  at  unity 
with  itself,"  a  state  having  God-given  laws  and  divineh'- 
commissioned  officers.  In  short,  the  Kingdom  of  God 
which  St.  John  Baptist  proclaimed  to  be  at  hand,  can 
only  mean  the  Catholic  Church.  This  we  shall  find  was 
the  teaching  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Ch\irch  Himself; 
and  the  Apostles  at  His  command,  preached  Christianity, 
not  as  a  sentiment,  but  as  a  kingdom ;  not  as  an  abstract 
faith,  but  a  foith  indissolubly  blended  with  an  organized 
and  sovereign  institution,  the  church  of  the  living  god, 

THE  PILLAR  AND  GROUND  OF  THE  TRUTH.  ^3 
23.  I.  Tim.,  iii.,  15. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DID  CHRIST  FOUND  A  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  WHICH  STILL  EXISTS? 

On  this  Rock  I  will  build  My  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.— Words  vf  Christ. 

GUIZOT  has  said,  "  Christianity  came  into  tlie  world  as 
an  idea  to  be  developed.''''  Christianity  did  nothinsj  of  the 
kind.  The  Christian  "  idea  "  of  which  the  learned  French- 
man speaks  can  only  mean  the  truth  which  Christ  re- 
vealed, which  was  definite  and  complete,  the  "faith  which 
was  once  for  all  ^  delivered  to  the  Saints."  And  that  was 
given  to  develop  men,  not  to  be  developed  by  men.  (li 
is  not  our  duty  to  develop  the  faith,  but,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  to  develop  ourselves  in  the  faith.)  According  to  our 
Lord's  teaching  that  Faith  was  embodied  in  a  visible 
organism,  which  He  calls  His  Church,  or  His  Kingdom. 
Indeed  the  Faith  is  so  identified  with  the  Church  that 
Christ  calls  His  Gospel  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.  The 
Church  is  an  integral  part  of  the  Faith,  and  a  belief  in  the 
Church  is  an  article  of  the  Apostolic  Creed, 

Observe,  then,  the  teaching  of  our  Divine  Master.  He 
began  His  ministry  by  authoritatively  repeating  the  v/ords 
of  St.  John  Baptist.     For  we  read  (St.  Mark,  i:  14),  "Jesus 

1.  St.  Jude,  i.,  3.    See  Revised  Version. 


IG  REASOJS'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

•came  into  Galilee  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  and  saying,  'The  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the  King' 
dom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand." '  Later  on,  after  He  had  ap- 
pointed the  twelve  Apostles,  He  says  to  the  multitude: 
'•  No  doubt  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  come  upon  you."^ 
Though  our  Lord  occasionally  uses  Kingdom  to  mean 
Heaven,  and  perhaps  once  or  twice  to  mean  His  spiritual 
dominion  in  our  hearts,  yet  more  than  nine  times  out  of 
ten  it  means  simply  His  Church  in  the  world,  the  Empire 
He  was  founding  on  the  earth,  but  not  of  the  earth.  Out 
of  His  thirty-two  recorded  parables,  nineteen  are  "  parables 
of  the  Kingdom."  More  than  half  of  His  discourses 
were  what  some  people  now-a-days  would  call  "  Churchly." 
But  He  sj)ake  with  authority.  Notice  a  few  of  the  won- 
derful prophetic  parables  which  bring  out  the  visible 
■character  of  Christ's  Church. 

In  one  He  likens  the  Church  to  a  field  of  wheat  and 
iares  which  grow  together  until  the  harvest,^  showing 
that  the  Church  while  on  earth  will  contain  good  and  bad, 
and  that  it  is  wrong  to  make  separations  in  the  Church 
even  for  so  laudable  a  purpose  as  to  weed  out  the  un- 
worthy. And  this  phase  of  the  Church,  its  unity  even  at 
the  cost  of  having  some  bad  men  in  it,  He  emphasizes  by 
an  additional  parable,  that  of  the  Net,  "* — "  which  tells  us 
how  the  Church,  having  swept  through  the  ages  from  one 
end  of  the  world  to  the  other,  will  finally  land  those 
whom  it  has  caught  on  the  shore  of  eternity,  and  there  the 
separation  shall  take  place."  The  parable  of  the  Mustard 
Seed,  5   shows   the   Catholic   or  universal   extent   of  the 


2.  St.  Luke,  xi.,  20.    3.   St.  Mat.,  xiii.,25.    4.  St.  Mat.,  xiii.,  47.    5.  St.  Mat., 
xiii.,  31. 


AUTHORITY.  17 


Church.  That  of  the  Vine  and  its  Branches,  ^  our  Lord's 
last  and  crowning  parable  of  His  Kingdom,  shows  that 
His  Church  is  a  visible  organism  which,  like  a  plant,  how- 
ever complex,  has  a  unity  dependent  on  the  branches 
remaining  in  ph^'sical  vital  connection  with  the  root.  Some 
of  our  Lord's  parables  refer  to  doctrine,  some  to  morals, 
some  to  individual  religious  experiences  ;  but  I  challenge 
any  one  to  show  a  parable  which  teaches  that  His  Church 
is  not  one,  visible  and  Catholic,  or  which  can  possibly  justify 
the  ''  developments  "  of  Romanism  or  the  separations  of 
Protestanism.  He  prays  for  the  unity  of  all  Christians, 
"that  they  may  be  one."'^  He  says  of  the  sheep  that 
hear  His  voice, '■''^hexQ  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  Shep- 
herd."^ He  admits  that  "  the  wolf"  may  catch  the  sheep, 
or  scatter  the  sheep  ;^  but  not  that  the  wolf  or  any  one 
else  may  construct  a  new  fold,  much  less  three  or  four 
hundred  new  folds,  for  the  flock  of  which  He  Himself  is 
the  Good  Shepherd,  and  for  which  He  has  already  built 
the  "one  fold."  The  first  miraculous  draught  of  fishes^" 
implies  that  the  "  Net "  may  break  and  some  of  the  fishes 
slip  out  through  the  breach  ;  but  not  that  the  Great  Net 
may  be  made  over  into  little  hand  nets,  or  that  the  fishes 
who  swim  back  into  the  lake  are  still  in  the  Net,  or 
surrounded,  forsooth,  by  an  "  invisible  net." 

But  in  addition  to  the  figurative  language  in  which 
Christ  illustrates  the  unity,  the  visibility,  and  the 
authority  of  His  Kingdom,  He  gives  what  a  learned  priest 

6.  St.  John,  sv.,  5.     7.  St.  John,  xvii.,  21. 

8.  St.  John,  s.,  16.  The  rendering  "one  flock  "  instead  of  one  fold,  adapted 
by  the  Revisers,  scarcely  alters  the  metaphor  at  all,  and  certainly  does  not  in  the 
slightest  degree  affect  the  argument. 

9.  St.  John,  X.,  12.    10.  St.  Luke,  v.,  6. 


18  REASONS  FOB  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

has  well  called  "  a  prophecy  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Church,  of  its  endless  duration,  and  of  the  name  by  which 
it  should  be  called."  When  St.  Peter  confessed  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  what  said  the  Son  of  God  ?  "  On  this 
rock  I  WILL  BUILD  MY  CHURCH  and  the  gates  of  Hell  shall 
not  prevail  against  i^''^^  Again  He  says  as  a  matter  of  dis- 
cipline in  the  case  of  an  erring  brother  :  "  Tell  it  to  the 
Church,  but  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be 
unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  publican.  "^^ 

A  still  clearer  view  of  the  origin  of  the  Church  will  be 
obtained  if  we  notice  the  steps  which  Christ  took  to  found 
and  organize  it.  One  of  His  first  acts  was  to  choose,  out  of 
the  whole  body  of  His  Disciples,  twelve  men  to  whom  He 
made  known  the  "mysteries  of  the  Kingdom  of  God."^^ 
He  called  them  Apostles,  and  sent  them  forth  to  preach — 
what?  ^^ The  Kingdom  of  God. ^^'^^  On  the  night  in  which 
He  was  betrayed,  at  that  most  solemn  moment,  immedi- 
ately after  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  He  told 
them  plainly  of  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  office  to 
which  He  had  elevated  them  in  His  Church:  "I  appoint 
unto  you  a  Kingdom,  as  My  Father  hath  appointed  unto 
Me,  that  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  My  Table  in  My  King- 
dom, and  sit  on  thrones,  judging  the  Twelve  Tribes  of 
Israel. "^^     The  Twelve  thus  raised  by  Christ  Himself  to 

IL  St.  Matthew,  xvi.,  18.  See  the  masterly  exposition  of  this  passage  by 
Dr.  J.  H.  Hopkins  in  the  American  Church  Rev  cw,  October,  1884. 

12.  St.  Matthew,  xviii.,  17.  13.  St.  Luke,  viii.,  10.  14.  St.  Luke,  viii.,  1,  and 
ix.,  2. 

15.  St.  Luke,  xxii.,  29.  Christ  appointed  also  70  men  called  "Elders,"  and 
sent  them  to  preach  the  "Kingdom"  (St.  Luke,  x.,  1  and  9).  It  is  an  open  ques- 
tion whether  they  constituted  the  nucleus  of  the  Presbyterate  to  which  the 
Apostles  added  others  by  ordination;  or  whether  theirs  was  a  temporary  com- 
mission.   I  incline  to  the  former  view. 


AUTHORITY.  19 

pre-emineuce  in  the  Church  were  of  equal  rank  and  power. 
To  borrow  the  words  of  Dr.  Mahan  :  "  In  their  relations  to 
one  another,  they  were  '  brothers,'  colleagues,  peers.  They 
called  no  man  '  father  '  on  the  earth.^^  According  to  the 
type  of  the  Old  Theocracy,  a  '  Kingdom '  was  given  to 
them,  but  the  Head  was  to  be  invisible  till  the  time  of  the 
final '  appearing  and  kingdom  '  of  Jesus  Christ." 

After  His  resurrection  from  the  dead,  when  in  His 
Human  nature  as  well  as  in  His  Divine,  He  could  say :  "  All 
power  is  given  unto  Me  in  Heaven  and  in  Earth,"^'^  He 
said  to  the  Apostles  :  "As  My  Father  hath  sent  Me,  so 
send  I  you."  He  endued  them  with  a  power  such  as  no 
Priesthood  had  ever  before  received,  the  power  of  Abso- 
lution ;  for  "  He  breathed  on  them  and  said  :  '  Receive  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted 
unto  them  ;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  re- 
tained. "^^  At  the  same  time  He  issued  that  far-reaching 
and  tremendous  command  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."^^  And  lastly, 
when  He  was  about  to  re-ascend  into  Heaven,  He  gave 
them  their  final  and  perpetual  commission  :  "  Go  ye 
therefore  and  make  disciples  (i.  e.  make  Christians)  of  all 
nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  ;  and  lo,  I 
am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 

amen.  "20 

The  phrases,  "  All  the  world,"  "Every  creature,"  "All 

16.    St.  Matthew,  xxiii.,  9.    17.  St.  Matthew,  xsviii.,  18.     18.  St.  John,  xx., 
21-23.    19.    St.  Mark,  xvi.,  15-16.    20.    St.  Matthew,  xxviii.,  19-20. 


20  EEASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

nations,"  show  that  the  Church  is  Catholic.  They  prove 
also  incontrovertibly  that  the  Apostolic  Ministry  is  to  be 
perpetuated  in  the  Church,  for  the  individuals  to  whom  the 
command  was  given,  could  not  go  personally  into  all  the 
world.  And  this  fact  our  Lord  enforces  by  His  promise  to 
be  with  the  Apostles — how  long?  Till  the  end  of  their 
natural  lives  ?  That  would  have  been  ten  years  in  the 
case  of  St.  James,  and  sixty  years  in  the  case  of  St.  John. 
No,  it  was  longer  than  that.  Mark  His  words,  for  there  is 
no  evading  them  :  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Here,  then,  we  have  the 
whole  subject  of  Apostolic  Succession  in  a  single  clause. 
Christ  ordains  the  Apostles,  sends  them  into  all  the  world, 
and  promises  to  be  with  them  to  an  age  which  has  not  yet 
come  —  nay,  which  still  lies  beyond  the  reach  of  Arch- 
angels' ken.  And  what  does  this  prove  ?  Why,  it  proves 
just  this:  That  in  ordaining  the  Apostles  He  did  more 
than  commission  twelve  men  for  their  natural  lives.  He 
created  the  Apostolic  Episcopate,  a  self-perpetuating  Hier- 
archy, like  the  tree  of  creation  "  yielding  fruit  after  his 
kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself,  upon  the  earth. "^^  He  knew 
that  His  Church  would  need  Overseers  through  all  the 
ages  ;  and  so  He  established  a  Ministerial  Succession, 
instinct  with  a  perennial  vitality,  not  to  be  impaired  by 
the  suicide  of  Judas,  nor  diminished  when  blessed  James 
is  slain  with  the  sword.  What  matters  it  though  St. 
Thomas  be  flayed  alive  in  India,  and  gentle  Andrew 
crucified  in  Greece  ?  Though  the  aged  Peter  "  stretch 
forth  his  hands,"  and  the  beloved  Disciple,  last  of  the 
twelve,    breathe    out    his    pure  spirit  in   the   Episcopal 

21.     Genesis,  i.,  11. 


AUTHORITY. 


Mansion  of  Ephesus?  It  matters  not.  God  had  promised 
to  be  with  His  Apostles  to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  and  God 
has  been  with  them,  and  is  with  them  still.  We  shall  see 
how  that  little  company  of  Apostolic  Bishops  ordained 
not  only  the  two  lower  orders  of  Priests  and  Deacons,  but 
imparted  by  the  "laying  on  of  hands,"  all  the  permanent 
grace  and  authority  of  their  own  Office  to  their  successors 
— who  form  a  line  of  Princes  in  the  Church  of  God,  com- 
pared with  which  the  oldest  dynasty  of  Europe  is  but  the 
child  of  a  da}^,  and  which  numbers  at  this  hour  nearly 
two  thousand  Bishops  throughout  the  world. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

THE    PENTECOSTAL    CHURCH, 

"Christ's  Church  was  holiest  in  her  youthful  days. 

Ere  the  world  on  her  smiled." 

—Lyra  Apostolica,  p.  175. 

"Qmis  nobis  dabit  videre  Ecclesiam  sicut  crat  in  diefttts  antiquis?^''— St. 
Bernard. 

N  assigning  reasons  for  being  a  Churchman,  the  first 
thing  to  be  proved  is  that  Christ  founded  a  Church 
which  still  exists.  That  He  did  found  a  Church  with  a 
self-perpetuating  ministry,  with  definite  faith,  and  with 
sacraments  and  ordinances,  has  been  shown  from  His  own 
words  and  His  own  acts.  The  question  whether  His 
Church  still  exists  ought  to  be  sufficiently  answered  for 
any  one  who  believes  in  Christ,  by  His  promise  that 
against  His  Church  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail,  and 
that  He  will  be  with  the  ministry  of  His  Church  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Nevertheless,  to  make  assur- 
ance doubly  sure,  let  us  look  at  the  Apostolic  Church,  that 
we  may  see  in  what  way  the  blessed  apostles  carried  out 
the  divine  plan,  what  are  the  essential  marks  or  character- 
istics impressed  on  the  Church  by  Apostolic  hands,  and 
whether  these  essentials  have,  through  all  the  ages,  been 
])reserved  in  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  English  speaking 
race. 


AUTHORITY. 


Christ  Himself  left  no  written  word ;  what  He  com- 
manded can  be  learned  only  from  what  the  Apostles  did. 
If,  at  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,  Napoleon  had  been  known 
to  summon  twelve  generals  to  headquarters  to  receive  in- 
structions from  him;  and  forthwith  the  twelve  generals,  in 
all  parts  of  the  battlefield,  had  begun  and  carried  out  a 
definite  plan  of  concerted  action,  who  would  doubt  that  that 
was  what  the  great  leader  had  commanded  ?  Behold 
then,  in  the  concerted  action  of  the  Apostles,  and  in  the 
uniform  faith,  order  and  worship  of  the  early  Church,  the 
mandates  of  the  Church's  Head  ! 

The  first  recorded  act  of  the  Apostles  shows  as  clearly 
as  anything  could  show  it,  that  the  Apostleship  of  the 
Church  was  not  to  be  confined  to  the  original  twelve.  For 
the  Apostles  and  109  brethren  who  constituted  the 
membership  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem  ("the  number 
of  the  names  together  was  about  120  "j^  under  divine 
guidance  chose  Matthias  to  "take  part  of  this  ministry 
and  Apostleship  from  which  Judas  by  transgression  fell,"- 
thus  fulfilling  the  prophesy  of  David ;  "  His  Bishopric 
let  another  take."^ 

The  Lord  had  told  the  Apostles  to  tarry  in  Jerusalem 
until  they  should  be  "  endued  with  power  from  on 
high."  They  Avaited  in  prayer,  which  the  Church  repro- 
duces each  year  between  Ascension  and  Whitsun-Day, 
and  then  when  they  were  all  assembled  with  one  accord  in 
one  place,  God,  the  Holy  Ghost,  came  down  from  heaven 
to  quicken,  inspire,  guide,  teach,  and  comfort  them,  and 
to  be  the  Vice-gerent  of  Christ  on  earth,  until  He  shall 
come  again.     Thus  the  dead  organism  of  the  Church  was 

1.  Acts,  i.,  15.    2.  id.,  25.    3.  id.,  20. 


24  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCH3IAN. 

quickened  into  a  New-creation,  just  as  into  the  spiritless 
body  of  Adam,  God  breathed  the  breath  of  life,  and  man 
became  a  living  soul.  Then  was  preached  the  first 
Christian  sermon,  and  3,000  hearts  were  smitten,  and  the 
cry  arose  :  "  What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  Then  that 
staunch  Churchman,  St.  Peter,  replied  (in  words  which 
show  that  God's  plan  for  bringing  men  into  the  Church 
Triumphant  in  Heaven,  is  by  membership  in  His  Church 
Militant  upon  Earth):  "Repent  and  be  baptized  every 
one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Repentance  from  sin,  Baptism  into  the  Faith  of  the  Son 
of  God.  How  exactly  this  agrees  with  the  recorded  teach- 
ing of  Christ,  Who  not  only  demanded  repentance  and 
faith,  but  ordained  Baptism  or  the  New  Birth  of  Water 
and  the  Spirit,  as  the  door  of  His  Church,  the  means  by 
which  all  nations  were  to  be  made  disciples,  and  without 
which  none  should  enter  into  His  Kingdom.  Then  "  they 
that  gladly  received  the  word  were  baptized "  to  the 
number  of  3,000. 

Here  then  we  have  a  picture  of  the  Church — with  its 
twelve  Apostolic  Bishops  and  about  3,108  members.  They 
were  not  a  mere  voluntary  society  or  debating  club, 
but  a  divinely  organized  Church,  indwelt  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  Every  baptized  member  had,  by  virtue  of  his  Bap- 
tism, been  cleansed  from  all  his  sins  past,  endued  with 
grace,  and  admitted  to  certain  privileges  and  duties.  The 
twelve  Overseers  of  this  Church  had  received  power  from 
Christ  Himself  to  Baptize,  to  celebrate  a  Sacrificial  Mem- 
orial of  Christ's  death  (of  which  more  anon),  to  teach  with 
authority  whatsoever  He  had  commanded  them,  to  sit  up- 


AUTHORITY.  25^ 


on  thrones  judging  the  tribes  of  Christ's  Church,  His 
spiritual  Israel,  and  to  keep  alive  that  Apostolic  Ministry- 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Such  was  the  Catholic 
Church  in  Jerusalem,  our  Holy  Mother,  on  the  tenth  day 
after  the  Ascension  of  the  Lord. 

I  gave  at  the  start  a  picture  of  the  present  aspect  of 
Christianity  among  the  English-speaking  race.  Wherein 
does  it  differ  from  the  picture  we  have  just  seen?  The 
only  important  difference  is  just  this  :  In  that  Church 
there  was  no  Romanism,  and  consequently  no  Protestant- 
ism. All  Avas  truth  and  oneness,  peace  and  beauty  and 
joy — in  a  word,  Catholicity.  And  who,  0  !  who  would  wish 
to  mar  that  fair  picture,  to  shatter  that  stately  image? 
Who  would  presume  to  sew  scarlet  patches  on  the  vesture 
of  Christ,  or  worse  still — which  even  the  soldiers  of  Pilate 
would  not  do — to  rend  that  seamless  robe  ?  We  have,  in 
these  days,  grown  so  accustomed,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the 
usurpations  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  the  additions 
which  Trent  and  the  Vatican  have  made  to  the  primitive 
Faith  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  so  accustomed  to  the  lop- 
ping off  of  the  articles  of  that  Faith,  to  the  manufacture  of 
new  churches  (of  which  there  are  now  nearly  400),  and 
the  breaking  up  of  Christianity,  that  we  have  become 
hardened  to  the  scene  which  Christendom  presents  to-day, 
and  over  which  the  angels  weep.  Do  you  want  to  see 
these  innovations  in  all  their  hideousness?  Then,  imagine 
them,  if  you  can,  breaking  out  all  at  once,  like  the  boils 
of  Egypt  or  the  leprosy  of  Gehazi  on  the  Pentecostal 
Church. 

Nothing,  indeed,  will  so  help  one  to  realize  the  Catho- 
licity of  the  primitive  Church,  as  to  try,  by  a  violent  effort 


26  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

of  the  imagination,  to  fit  the  pseudo-Catholicity  of  Rome 
or  the  anti-Catholicity  of  Protestant  Dissent  upon  the 
Apostolic  Church.  The  first  is  like  taking  the  Apollo 
Belvidere  and  decking  it  out  with  coat  and  hat  and  cane ; 
the  second  is  like  shattering  the  image  and  mounting 
each  fragment  on  a  separate  pedestal. 

As  to  the  first,  fancy  St.  Peter,  who  had  just  missed  be- 
ing expelled  from  the  ministry,  when  the  Lord  said  to 
him  '}  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan ! "  who  had  fallen 
lower  than  any  of  his  brethren  by  his  threefold  denial  of 
Christ ;  who  had  been  restored  to  an  equal  footing  with 
the  rest  by  the  special  grace  of  Christ,  but  not  without 
special  warnings  ;  fancy  him — with  the  words  of  Christ 
to  the  ivliole  twelve  ringing  in  his  ears  ;  Call  no  man  Father 
for  ye  are  brethren,  and  rebuking  them  for  the  slightest 
rivalry  among  themselves — fancy  him  sitting  on  the  Altar 
Table  of  that  upper  room,  the  infant  Cathedral  of  Jeru- 
salem, putting  a  crown  upon  his  head,  and  saying  :  I  am 
the  Infallible  Head  of  the  Church  !  the  vicar  of  Christ,  a 
Bishop  of  Bishops  !  while  John  and  James,  the  Elders  and 
the  holy  brethren  rejoice  to  kiss  his  foot !  But  this  is  no 
exaggeration  ;  it  is  precisely  what  one  of  the  successors  of 
the  Apostles,  the  pretended  successor  of  St.  Peter,  actually 
as  well  as  metaphorically  demands  of  his  brethren  to- 
day. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Fancy  those  early  Christians,  their  hearts 
aflame  with  the  love  of  God  and  the  worship  of  Christ, 
fancy  them  taking  the  gentle,  lowly  Virgin  Mother  (who 
depends  for  her  salvation  on  the  merits  of  Christ  as  much 
as  any  child  of  Adam),  and  putting  her  in  her  Son's  place, 

1.    St.  Matt,  xvi.  23. 


AUTHORITY.  27 


as  an  object  of  worship,  as  the  "  Mediatrix  "  between  God 
and  man  !  Assuredly,  like  blessed  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
when  the  Priest  of  Jupiter  would  do  them  sacrifice,  she 
would  have  cried  out  :  "  Sirs,  why  do  ye  these  things  ? 
*  *  *  Turn  from  these  vanities  unto  the  living  God." 
Nor  is  this  all.  Picture  to  your  minds  the  first  Cel- 
ebration of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  when  the  newly  baptized 
make  their  first  Communion.  They  kneel  about  the  Holy 
Table  ;  perchance  St.  John,  who  lay  on  his  Master's  bosom, 
jnakes  the  Memorial  before  God,  uttering  the  awful  prayer 
of  Consecration.  He  breaks  the  Bread, ''  the  Communion 
of  the  Body  of  Christ,''  and  blesses  the  ''Cup  of  Bless- 
ing, the  Communion  of  the  Blood  of  Christ  f^  ^  he  has  repeated 
the  words  of  the  Lord,  not  only  "  Take,  Eat,  tliis  is  My 
Body  ;  "  but,  "  Drink  all  ye  of  this,  for  this  is  My  Blood  ;  " 
Tie  remembers  the  words  of  Christ  at  Capernaum  -.^  Except 
ye  drink  the  Blood  of  the  Son  of  Man,  ye  have  no  life  in  you ; 
lie  himself  receives  under  both  kinds,  but  to  the  kneeling 
Apostles  and  brethren  he  gives  only  the  Consecrated 
Bread,  he  withholds  the  Chalice,  he  mutilates  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  he  disobeys  his  God,  he  robs  the  sheep  !  Who 
■does  not  turn  away  from  that  picture  in  horror,  as  a  cari- 
-cature  of  the  early  Church  ?  Nevertheless,  these  three 
things,  the  Supremacy  and  Infallibility  of  the  pretended 
successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  worship  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  and  the  denial  of  the  Cup  to  all  but  the  ministering 
Priest,  these  three  things,  which  are  the  chief  differentia  of 
Homanism,  are  required  to-day  by  that  j)art  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  which  claims  to  be  the  only  true  and 
Catholic  part. 

2.    1,  Cor.,  X.,  10.    3.  St.  John,  vi.,  53. 


28  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Nor  will  the  multi-cloven  foot  of  Protestantism  fit  the 
crystal  slipper  of  primitive  Catholicity  one  whit  better. 

Fancy  a  certain  section  of  the  brethren  saying  :  "It  is 
enough  to  have  the  Elders  over  us;  down  with  the  order 
of  Apostles !  Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder,  and  cast 
their  cords  from  us."  And  so  they  leave  the  Church,  and 
make  the  Presbyterian  fold.  Fancy  another  set  saying  : 
*'  We  don't  want  even  Elders  who  claim  any  divinely  given 
authority  ;  '  Ye  take  too  much  upon  yourselves,  ye  sons 
of  Levi,  seeing  all  the  congregation  is  holy.' "  And  so 
they  leave  the  Church,  appoint  their  ministers  by  the 
authority  of  the  congregation,  and  erect  the  "  Congrega- 
tional "  or  "  Independent  "  folds. 

Others  object  to  the  worship  and  the  Sacraments  which 
the  Apostles,  at  Christ's  command,  have  established.  One- 
faction  abolishes  Confirmation  or  the  Laying  on  of  Hands 
(which  the  Holy  Ghost  declares  to  be  a  part  of  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Gospel  of  Christ)."*  Another  decides  that 
once  a  month,  once  a  season,  once  a  year  or  not  at  all,  is 
often  enough  for  the  Holy  Eucliarist.  Another  restricts 
the  Sacrament  of  Holy  Baptism  to  a  small  minority  of  man- 
kind, and  to  a  singular  and  arbitrary  mode  of  administra- 
tion. Another  says  :  "Away  with  it  altogether !  "  Still 
others  say  :  ''  There  is  no  visible  Church,  or  mystical 
Body  of  Christ;  we  can  make  as  good  a  Church  as  God 
Himself."  Accordingly  small  coteries  of  the  brethren  take 
each  some  one  doctrine  which  all  hold  in  common,  and 
make  a  special  "  church  "  to  emphasize  that  one  point  at 
the  expense  of  other  truths  equally  vital. 

4.  Heb.,  vi.,  1   2. 


AUTHORITY.  29 


Again,  others  assail  the  rule  of  Faith,  the  "  Form  of 
Sound  Words  "^  which  the  Apostles  together  inculcate, 
the  heirloom  of  the  Church,  the  Apostolic  Creed.  And 
here  one  phase  of  Protestantism  fits  the  early  Church  so 
badly  as  to  be  positively  ludicrous.  One  says  :  "  I  don't 
want  a  Creed  imposed  by  Apostolic  authority.  Away 
with  it  !  The  Bible  and  the  Bible  only  is  my  religion. 
Give  me  the  New  Testament."  But  lo  !  St.  Matthew  rises 
and  says  :  "  My  brother,  I  am  the  author  of  the  first  Gos- 
pel, but  I  shall  not  begin  to  write  it  for  twenty  years  yet. 
In  the  meantime  my  word  is  as  good  as  my  pen."  And 
then,  methinks,  I  hear  the  beloved  John  exclaim  :  "  I  am 
the  author  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  but  all  you  who  hear  my 
voice  will  have  gone  to  the  spirit-world,  or  ever  I  write 
down  the  first  word."  Then  St.  Peter  jumps  to  his  feet 
and  says  :  "  Ye  fools  and  blind  !  A  large  part  of  the  New 
Testament  is  to  be  written  by  one  who  is  now  a  persecutor 
and  injurious,  making  havoc  of  the  Church.  And  even 
when  the  Canon  of  Scripture  is  closed,  it  will  contain 
many  things  hard  to  be  understood  ^  which  they  that  are 
unlearned  and  unstable  will  wrest  to  their  own  destruction, 
by  their  '  private  interpretations.'  '^  Sixty  years  will  elapse 
before  the  Bible  is  finished  ;  three  hundred  before  The 
Church  decides  which  of  the  many  religious  writings  are 
inspired  ;  and  fourteen  or  fifteen  centuries  ere  the  invent- 
ive genius  of  man  will  make  it  possible  to  put  the  open 
Bible  into  the  hands  of  all  Christians.  Meanwhile  what 
is  the  Church  to  do  ?  Wli3s  the  Lord  has  directed  us  ^  to 
teach  you  to   observe  all  things  whatsoever  He  has  com- 


5.  n.  Tim.,  i.,  13.    6.  H.  St.  Peter,  iii.,  16.     7.  U.  St.  Peter,  i.,  20.     8.  St.  Mat- 
thew, xxviii.,  20. 


30  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

manded  us.  He  spent  forty  days  with  us  after  His  Resur- 
rection, teaching  us  the  things  pertaining  to  His  Church.  ^ 
We  know  what  we  are  about.  And  if  you  are  willing  to 
accept  our  writing,  will  ye  not  receive  our  spoken  word?  " 
Thus  would  St.  Peter  have  shown  the  folly  of  the  Protest- 
ant novelty  that  the  Church  is  founded  on  the  New  Testament. 
The  fact  is  that,  as  the  Jewish  Church,  which  was  fully 
organized  under  Moses,  lived  a  thousand  years  before  the 
Old  Testament  was  completed,  so  the  Catholic  Church 
flourished  for  two  generations,  as  the  perfectly  organized  and 
authoritative  Kingdom  of  God,  before  the  New  Testament. 
was  finished.  Late  in  the  fourth  century  St.  Chrysostom 
mentions  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  a  book  which  proba- 
bly no  one  in  the  vast  cathedral  congregation  of  Constanti- 
nople had  ever  read.  Yet  all  the  while  the  Church  was- 
perfectly  organized,  a,nd  achieved  its  most  glorious  triumphs. 
It  had  its  Rule  of  Faith,  which  crystallized  into  the  Creed  y 
it  had  its  worship  (the  "  Divine  Liturgy  "),  the  threefold 
Ministry,  the  Sacraments,  and  the  oral  Gospel  which  the- 
Apostles  preached  many  years  before  it  was  put  on  paper, 
and  which  the  Christians  knew  and  loved  whether  they 
could  read  or  not.  And  the  Church  would  still  be  the 
Church,  even  had  God  chosen  to  withhold  from  it  the 
written  word  ;  and  would  continue  to  be  the  "  Church  of 
the  Living  God,  the  Pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,"  even 
if  (as  humanly  speaking  seemed  probable  at  one  time) 
every  copy  of  the  Bible  had  been  destroyed.  Christianity 
is  not  a  ms.,  but  a  Kingdom  ;  not  a  book,  but  a  living,, 
believing,  worshipping,  governing  and  working  Church. 
Officers  of  this  Church,  it  is  true,  were  inspired  by  the 

9.  Acts,  i.,  3. 


AUTHORITY.  31 


Holy  Ghost  to  write  a  Book,  which  is  thus  a  most  precious 
revelation  from  God,  and  "  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  re- 
proof, for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness."  i^ 
But  it  must  be  remembered  the  Booh  was  written  by  Church- 
men, for  the  Church  already  existing,  and  must  be  inter- 
preted according  to  the  Church's  Rule  of  Faith. ^i  The 
Bible  divorced  from  the  Church  is  like  a  constitution 
without  a  nation,  a  code  of  laws  without  a  government  to 
give  them  sanction  and  authority. 

Thus  the  three  distinctive  features  of  modern  Romanism, 
and  the  illogical,  unecclesiastical,  uncatholic  novelties 
which  are  the  foundation  of  Protestant  Dissent  are  incom- 
patible with — nay,  inconceivable  in — the  One  Holy  Cath- 
olic and  Apostolic  Church  as  founded  by  Incarnate  God, 
and  builded  by  those  to  whom  He  gave  authority  and 
power  until  the  end  of  time. 


10.  II.  Tim.,  iii.,  16. 

11.  "Without  the  Creeds,  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  as  a  treasure-house  of 
which  we  have  lost  the  key." 


CHAPTER  y. 

MARKS  OF  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

"I  obey, 
Following  where'er  the  Church  hath  marked  the  ancient  way." 

—  Lyra  Apo/^tolka,  p.  132. 

WE  read  that  the  three  thousand  converts  who  were  bap- 
tized on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  "continued  steadfastly" 
in  four  things:  ^  The  Doctrine  of  the  Apostles;  Tlie  Fellowship 
of  the  Apostles;  The  Breaking  of  the  Bread;  and  The  Prayers. 
Churchmen  of  old,  then,  in  addition  to  being  baptized,  had 
four  marks  by  which  they  were  known,  and  all  Christians 
who  are  Churchmen  bear  those  same  marks  to-day. 

(a)  They  continued  steadfastly  in  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Apostles,  i.  e.,  the  Faith  ;  the  othodox  Catholic  Faith  which 
the  Apostles  taught  the  Church  ;  or,  in  brief,  the  Creed. 
Any  departure  from  this  standard,  either  by  false  additions 
or  by  diminutions,  is  heresy. 

(1))  They  continued  steadfastly  in  the  Fellowship  of  the 
Apostles  —  not  merely  of  one  of  the  Apostles — i.  e.,  they 
remained  in  communion  with  the  Church  and  loyal  to  the 
Apostolic  Episcopate.  This  fellowship  or  communion  is 
broken  to-day  by  those  who  say:  ^  "I  am  of  Cephas" 
[Peter].  They  assert  (though  mistakenly)  that  St.  Peter 
was  an  Apostle  of  Apostles,  the  Head  of  the  Church,  hav- 
ing sole  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  world ;  that  he  was 

1.  Acts,  ii.,  42.     2.  1  Cor.,  i.,  12,  ar.d  iii.,  21-22. 


AUTHORITY.  33 


Bishop  of  Rome  (which  he  was  not);  and  that  this  [imagi- 
nary] Authority  has  come  down  in  unbroken  line  (though 
it  has  not)  in  the  Bishops  of  Rome.  On  the  strength  of  a 
non-existent  authority  which  St.  Peter  did  not  possess,  which 
he  did  not  bequeath  to  the  Bishops  of  Rome,  and  which 
the  Bishops  of  Rome  have  not  kept  in  unbroken  succession, 
they  have  broken  fellowship  with /owr  out  of  the  five  Patri- 
archs of  Catholic  Christendom,  with  their  Bishops,  clergy 
and  laity  who  at  the  time  far  outnumbered  those  who 
adhered  to  the  Patriarch  of  Rome  ;  and  have  broken  fellow- 
ship with  the  autocephalous  ^  Churches,  like  the  Churches 
of  Great  Britain  and  Cyprus,  and  set  up  altar  against  altar? 
notably  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Anglican  Church 
since  1570. 

This  Fellowship  with  the  Apostles  is  still  more  violently 
broken  by  all  Protestant  Dissenters  who  have  rebelled 
against  the  Apostolic  Episcopate  and  seceded  from  the  his- 
toric Church.     For  individual  believers  in  Christ,  who  by 


3.  Note.  "The  dioceses  are  grouped  into  provinces,  with  an  Archbishop 
over  each.  The  provinces  are  grouped,  except  those  in  the  far  West  of  Europe, 
England  among  them,  and  except  a  few  in  the  East,  which  are  still  left  auto- 
cephalous, into  Patriarchates  with  a  Patriarch  over  each,"  viz.,  Rome,  Constanti- 
nople (which  Canon  III.  of  the  Second  General  Council  declares  to  have  "equal 
privileges"  with  Kome),  Alexandria,  Antioch  and  Jerusalem. 

"The  exclusive  theory  of  Eome  was  resisted  from  the  time  it  made  its  first 
faint  appearance  in  the  Catholic  Church  until  to-day.  *  *  *  As  it  grew  in 
strength  and  insolence  during  the  darkest  time  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  whole 
Eastern  and  Greek  part  of  the  Catholic  Church,  at  that  time  by  far  the  largest, 
most  enlightened  and  numerous  part,  with  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople 
at  its  head,  rose  and  excommunicated  the  Bishop  of  Eome  and  all  his  adherents. 
Thus  four  out  of  the  five  great  Patriarchates  of  the  world  cut  off  the  one  Western 
or  Roman  Patriarchate.  The  Roman  theory  then,  left  to  itself,  easily  gained  addi- 
tional strength  and  self-assertion  in  the  West,  until  in  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Catholic  part  of  the  Church  in  England  could  endure  it  no  longer.  *  *  * 
So  the  Roman  part  of  the  Church  cut  itself  off  first  from  the  whole  Eastern  part  of 
the  Church,  and  then  from  the  Anglican."— CafhoZicity  in  its  Relationship  to 
JProtestantism  and  Romanism.    By  Dr.  Ewer,  pp.  236  and  155. 


34  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

heredity  or  by  erroneous  teaching  are  to-day  not  in  com- 
munion with  the  Church,  all  Churchmen  should  entertain 
feelings  of  sympathy  and  brotherly  love.  But  with  the 
systems  of  Dissent  and  with  their  founders,  those  sons  of 
Nebat  who  make  Israel  to  sin,  there  can  be  no  compromise. 
It  should  be  remembered  also  that  in  the  long  run,  the 
breaking  of  the  Fellowship  of  the  Apostles  is  always  accom- 
panied by  more  or  less  of  a  departure  from  the  Doctrine  of 
the  Apostles,  as  well  as  from  the  two  remaining  marks  of 
the  Church,  which  must  now  be  considered. 

(c)  The  early  Church  continued  steadfastly  in  the  Break- 
ing of  the  Bread,  i.  e.,  the  Holy  Eucharist.  Those  who  do 
not  regularly,  lawfully  and  frequently  participate  in  the 
Holy  Communion,  do  not  continue  steadfastly  in  the  Break- 
ing of  the  Bread.  This  sign  of  true  Catholicity  is  marred 
or  obliterated  by  those  who  mutilate  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment (like  the  modern  Romanists);  by  those  who  make 
superstitious  additions  to  it ;  by  those  who  parody  it  by 
attempting  to  consecrate  it  without  the  lawful  Priesthood,  or 
without  the  proper  matter  (i.  e.,  bread  and  wine),  or  with- 
out the  proper  form  (i.  e.,  the  essential  part  of  the  Divine 
Liturgy);  and,  of  course,  by  those  who  abolish  it  altogether, 
like  the  Quakers.  And  surely  this  mark  is  very  much 
dimmed  in  those  parishes  of  our  own  Church  where  Matins 
takes  the  place  of  Holy  Communion  forty  Sundays  out  of 
the  year,  and  where  on  the  First  Day  of  the  week  we  come 
together  not,  like  the  early  Christians,  "  to  break  Bread," 
but  to  hear  sermons. 

(d)  They  continued  steadfastly  in  the  Prayers,  not 
merely  in  prayer  in  general,  but  in  the  Prayers,  The 
definite  article  is  there  in  the  Greek,  and  has  been  restored 


AUTHORITY.  35 


in  the  Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testament.  What  the 
Prayers  means  no  one  need  be  ignorant.  The  Church,  like 
the  Jewish  Synagogue,  has  always  had  a  form  of  worship. 
The  Liturgy  of  the  Church,  though  elastic  and  flexible? 
has  in  it  an  element  invariable  and  divine,  a  norm  or  skel- 
eton which  is  demonstrably  of  Apostolic  origin,  the  com- 
mon heritage  of  Catholic  Christendom. 

Of  the  three  divisions  of  English-speaking  Christians 
(Churchmen,  Romanists  and  Dissenters)  which  has  con- 
tinued the  most  steadfastly  in  these  four  things  ?  Which 
holds  the  Doctrine  of  the  Apostles  without  additions  and 
without  diminutions?  Which  holds  the  Fellowship  of  the 
Apostles  and  the  Communion  of  Saints  ? — the  Catholic  Epis- 
copate free  from  tyrannous  usurpation,  a  reasonable  and 
reformed  Priesthood,  but  without  breaking  the  Apostolic 
Succession?  Which  holds  the  Breaking  of  the  Bread, 
without  mutilating  the  Sacrament,  without  superstitious 
additions,  with  lawful  priestly  ministrations,  with  proper 
matter  and  form  ?  Which  holds  the  Prayers,  the  Catholic 
Liturgy —  enriched,  it  is  true,  and  adapted  to  present 
needs  —  but  not  overlaid  with  creaittre- worship,  nor  dissi- 
pated into  the  extemporaneous  devotions  of  an  individual 
man? 

It  remains  then  to  show  that  the  Mother  Church  of 
English-speaking  Christians  to-day,  like  the  Church  in  the 
days  of  the  Apostles,  having  admitted  to  membership  by 
Holy  Baptism,  holds  its  members  steadfast  in  the  Faith  ; 
in  the  Apostolic  Ministry  (carrying  with  it  Ordination  and 
Confirmation);  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  of  Christ's  Body 
and  Blood  ;  and  in  the  Prayers,  the  devotional  heritage  of 
the  Church. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   ANGLICAN    CHURCH    AND    HOLY    BAPTISM. 

"All  in  the  unregenerate  child 
Is  void  and  formless,  dark  and  wild. 
Till  the  life-giving  holy  Dove 
Upon  the  waters  gently  move, 
And  power  impart,  soft  brooding  there, 
Celestial  fruit  to  bear." 

—  Keble,  Lyra  Innocentium,  II. 

IT  has  been  shown  that  the  Apostolic  ministry  of  the 
early  Church  admitted  to  membership  by  Baptism;  and 
then  that  the  baptized  members  of  the  Church  continued 
steadfastly  in  four  things  which  may  be  called  the  marks 
of  true  Catholicity.  All  Christians  have  at  least  some 
measure  of  these  four  things,  some  element  or  elements  of 
Catholicity;  but  it  is  the  glory  of  the  Anglican  Church 
that  she  has  retained  them  all. 

The  Church  was  early  planted  in  the  British  Isles,  prob- 
ably by  St.  Paul  himself.  This  Church,  during  the  British 
ascendency,  during  the  Saxon  ascendency,  during  the  Nor- 
man ascendency,  and  down  to  the  present  day,  is  the  same 
Church.  She  has  passed  through  sundry  deformations  and 
reformations,  has  never  been  absolutely  perfect  nor  radi- 
cally imperfect;  has  never  been  without  the  Orthodox  Faith, 
the  Apostolic  Ministry,  the  Sacraments,  the  Liturgy,  and 


AUTHORITY.  37 


good  works.  She  has  at  times  been  tyrannized  over  by  a 
foreign  ecclesiastical  power,  and  again  robbed  and  oppressed 
by  the  State,  but  she  has  never  ceased  to  be  the  Church. 
Her  escapade  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  especially  from 
about  A.  D.  1200  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
was  unfortunate  in  the  extreme,  and  brought  her  much 
trouble,  but  she  never  lost  her  personal  identity,  nor  her 
lawful  jurisdiction  ;  and  is  to-day  the  same  Church  and 
in  the  same  position  that  she  would  be  in,  had  England 
become  totally  isolated  from  all  the  rest  of  Christendom, 
and  never  so  much  as  heard  of  the  rise  of  the  "  Papacy  " 
and  the  other  strange  "  developments  "  which  have  taken 
place  within  the  Latin  Church. 

A  comparison  of  the  principles  of  the  early  Church,  as 
seen  in  the  New  Testament  and  the  writings  of  the  Fathers, 
with  those  of  the  Anglican  Church  to-day,  will  show  that 
the  latter  has  not  departed  therefrom  in  any  essential  point, 
if  indeed  in  an^/  respect  at  all  farther  than  local  circum- 
stances and  the  progress  of  civilization  justly  demand. 
Nor  can  this  be  said  of  any  other  Communion  in  Western  Christ- 
endom. 

As  to  Holy  Baptism,  which  is  the  door  of  entrance  from 
the  world  into  the  Church,  slie  holds  and  has  ever  held 
what  Christ  taught,  what  the  Apostles  carried  out,  and 
what  the  Universal  Church  has  practiced  always  and  every- 
where. There  is  here  no  difference  between  us  Churchmen 
and  the  rest  of  Catholic  Christendom.  It  will  be  well,  how- 
ever, to.  consider  briefly  what  this  Sacrament  really  means, 
this  New  Birth  which  made  the  early  behevers  members 
of  Christ,  and  of  which  our  Church  both  in  theory  and 
practice  makes  so  much  account.     Baptism  and  Regenera- 


S8  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Hon  are  synonymous  terms.  They  both  in  Scriptural 
phraseology  and  in  Church  usage,  stand  for  the  initial 
rite  of  the  Christian  religion,  viz.,  Christening  or  the  act 
which  makes  one  a  Christian.  Almost  everything  has  two 
or  three  iiames,  each  emphasizing  some  special  character- 
istic. The  Sacrament  of  the  Altar  is  variously  called  "  the 
Breaking  of  the  Bread,"  the  Holy  Communion,  the  Lord's 
Supper,  the  Holy  Eucharist,  and  the  Mass.  So  likewise 
the  first  Sacrament  of  Christianity  is  called  Baptism  with 
reference  to  its  outward  visible  sign  or  form,  and  Regen- 
eration or  the  New  Birth  with  reference  to  its  inward 
spiritual  grace.  St.  Paul  couples  the  two  ideas  together 
when  he  says  we  are  saved  "  by  the  Washing  of  Regenera- 
tion," ^  or  as  it  might  be  rendered,  the  Baptism  of  the  Nev: 
Birth.  Regeneration  then  is  that  death  unto  sin  and  new 
birth  unto  righteousness  which  constitutes  the  inward  part 
or  grace  of  the  Sacrament.  What  could  be  simpler?  We 
are  born  or  generated  into  the  world  by  the  act  of  our 
parents  ;  we  are  born  again  or  re-generated  into  the  Church 
by  "  Water  and  the  Spirit,"  receiving  at  the  same  time  for- 
giveness of  all  past  sins,  original  or  actual.  ~ 

There  is  a  shocking  abuse  of  the  word  regeneration  which 
has  of  late  become  prevalent  among  people  ignorant  of 
language  and  of  Theology.  They  make  it  synonomous 
with  conversion  (/)  It  has  no  more  to  do  with  conversion 
than  it  has  with  getting  married  or  being  buried.  Conver- 
sion is  a  change  of  heart  for  which  we  pray,  when  we  say: 
"  Create  and  make  in  us  new  and  contrite  hearts. "  ^  Regen- 
eration is  that  Christening  grace  for  which  we  pray,  when 

1.  Titus,  iii.,  5.    2.  Ch.  Catechism.  St.  John,  iii.,  5;  Acts,  iii.,  38.    3.  Collect 
for  Ash  Wed. 


AUTHORITY. 


we  say:  "  Give  Thy  Holy  Spirit  to  this  Infant  that  he  may 
be  born  again,"  and  when  we  pray  that "  these  persons  com- 
ing to  Thy  Holy  Baptism  may  receive  remission  of  their 
sins  by  spiritual  Regeneration."  ^  Conversion  is  the  act  of 
the  prodigal  in  returning  to  his  Father ;  Regeneration  is 
the  act  of  the  Father  in  receiving  him  and  admitting  him 
to  His  house.  To  call  conversion  Regeneration,  as  most 
Dissenters  do,  is  simply  an  abuse  of  language  and  a  con- 
fusion of  ideas.  One  might  just  as  well  call  repentance, 
Confirmation  ;  or  Faith,  Ordination  ;  or  a  man,  an  eagle  ; 
or  a  fish,  a  bird.  We  may  be  converted  a  hundred  times  ; 
we  can  be  baptized,  christened,  regenerated  but  once.  And 
so,  as  soon  as  the  infant  is  baptized  the  priest  says.  "  See- 
ing now,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  that  this  child  is  regen- 
erate and  grafted  into  the  body  of  Christ's  Church,  let  us 
give  thanks,"  and  then  he  prays:  "  We  yield  Thee  hearty 
thanks,  most  merciful  Father,  that  it  hath  pleased  Thee  to 
regenerate  this  infant  with  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  to  receive  him 
for  Thine  own  child  by  adoption,  and  to  incorporate  him 
into  Thy  holy  Church." 

It  is  common  in  these  days  to  hear  some  well-meaning 
Christian  say,  "  0,  I  believe  in  Baptism,  but  I  don't  regard 
it  a  'saving  ordinance.'"  It  is  well  to  remind  such  that 
they  differ  from  the  Catholic  Church  which  St.  Peter  ^ 
taught  to  believe,  "  Baptism  doth  also  now  save  us,"  and  to 
which  St.  Paul  writes,  "According  to  His  mercy  He  saved 
us  by  the  Washing  of  Regeneration."  ^  In  no  less  than 
twelve  passages  of  the  New  Testament  do  Christ  or  His 
Apostles  associate  Salvation  with  Baptism,  e.  g.  "Christ 
loved  the  Church,  and  gave  Himself  for  her  that  He  might 

4.  Baptismal  Offices.    5.  I  Pet    iii..  21. 


40  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

sanctify  and  cleanse  her  by  the  Washing  of  Water."  ^  A 
faithful  disciple  sent  by  God,  says  to  the  penitent  and 
believing  Saul  of  Tarsus,  "Arise,  be  baptized  and  wash  away 
thy  sins."  '^  St.  Peter  says  in  answer  to  the  question, 
"  What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved?  "  "  Repent  and  be  bap- 
tized every  one  of  you  for  the  remission  of  sins."  ^  When 
Christ  commissioned  the  Apostles  to  baptize  all  nations, 
He  adds,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be 
saved."  ^  And  He  said  to  Nicodemus,  "  Except  a  man  be 
horn  of  Water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God."  There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  unchristened 
Christian  ;  an  unbaptized  person  is  an  "  alien  from  the  com- 
monwealth of  Israel,  and  a  stranger  from  the  covenant  of 
promise."  By  Baptism,  then,  a  person  is  cleansed  from 
sin,  born  again,  admitted  into  the  Church,  made  a  mem- 
ber of  Christ  and  inheritor  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven, 
brought  into  a  state  of  salvation  from  which,  of  course,  he 
may  fall,  if  he  be  unfaithful. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  Church's  doctrine  of  Hol}'^  Baptism, 
as  we  gather  from  the  New  Testament,  and  from  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Fathers  —  from  Justin  Martyr,  writing  before 
148  A.  D.;  from  Ironaeus  and  Tertullian  bui  a  little  later  ; 
from  the  great  and  godly  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage  a. 
D.  246  ;  from  St.  Cyril,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  a.  d.  351, 
whose  admirable  lectures  on  Baptism  are  still  extant ;  from 
the  unvarying  testimony  of  hosts  of  others,  as  well  as  from 
the  early  Baj^tismal  Offices  ;  from  the  constant  use  of  the 
Catholic  Church ;  and,  what  is  of  special  interest  to  us, 
from  the  uninterrupted  theory  and  practice  of  that  part  of 
the  Catholic  Church  to  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  belong. 

6.  Eph..  v.,  25-6.    7.  Acts,  xxii  .  16     8   Acts,  ii.,  38     9.  St.Mark,  xvi.,  16. 


AUTHORITY.  41 


These  sources  of  authority  also  demonstrate  beyond  all 
cavil  or  doubt,  that  (as  Dr.  Blunt  expresses  it)  "Baptism 
has  been  given  to  infants  from  the  time  of  its  first  institu- 
tion." At  the  start,  of  course,  there  were  very  few  infants 
to  be  reached  by  the  Church,  but  whenever  we  read  in 
Holy  Scripture  of  the  older  members  of  a  family  being 
converted,  we  always  read  that  not  only  they  but  the  eatire 
household  were  baptized.  ^^  As  the  Church  grew,  and  chil- 
dren were  born  to  Christian  parents,  those  parents  always 
brought  their  little  ones  to  the  Church  that  they  might  be 
born  into  the  family  of  God,  believing,  as  St.  Cyprian  says 
that  "  one  cannot  have  God  for  his  Father,  unless  he  have 
the  Church  for  his  mother."  So  often  were  parents  or  spon- 
sors seen  wending  their  way  to  church  with  babes  in  their 
arms,  that  the  Pagans  started  the  dreadful  slander  that 
Christians  met  together  to  slay  little  children  and  drink 
their  blood  ! 

There  was  a  controversy  in  the  early  Church  of  North 
Africa  about  infant  Baptism,  but  the  question  was  not 
whether  infants  should  be  christened,  but  whether  they 
should  be  christened  before  they  were  eight  days  old.  And 
the  great  Bishop  of  Carthage,  above  mentioned,  with  fifty 
Bishops  in  council  assembled,  ruled  that  no  infant  was  too 
young  for  Baptism.  The  eighth  day  used  to  be  a  favorite 
time  for  christening,  after  the  analogy  of  Jewish  Circum- 
cision, that  type  of  Baptism,  by  which  a  child  of  a  week 
was  admitted  to  all  the  privileges  and  grace  of  God's  ancient 
Covenant.  Justin  Martyr,  who  was  almost  contemporan- 
sous  with  St.  John,  speaks  of  many  aged  people  who  had 

10.  Acts,  xvi.,  15  and  33,  and  1  Cor.,  i.,  16. 


42  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

been  made  disciples  of  Chist  from  infancy.  St.  Irenseus 
speaks  of  "  infants  and  little  children,  and  boys  and  young 
men  "  all  being  alike  born  anew  to  God  by  Holy  Baptism. 
St.  Augustine  speaks  of  "infants  baptized  in  Christ,"  and 
says:  "  In  infants  born  and  baptized,  and  thus  born  again, 
let  Christ  be  acknowledged."  When  the  Good  Shepherd 
builded  the  "  one  fold,"  He  meant  it  for  the  lambs  as  well 
as  for  the  sheep.  We  may  rest  assured  that  the  Catholic 
Church,  after  baptizing  infants  for  nearly  1900  years,  knows 
what  she  is  about.  That  heartless  heresy  which  denies  the 
mercies  of  the  Covenant  to  the  little  children  whom  Jesus 
blessed,  ^^  which  shuts  out  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  those 
very  ones  concerning  whom  the  Saviour  said,  "  Of  such  is 
the  Kingdom  of  God,"  ^~  was  born  of  ignorance,  nourished 
on  prejudice,  and  has  been  propagated  by  a  mistaken  zeal 
worthy  a  better  cause.  It  has  also  brought  it  to  pass  that, 
even  under  the  shadow  of  the  old  English  Church,  multi- 
tudes grow  up  unregenerate  —  oftentimes  subjectively  believ- 
ers, but  objectively  heathen.  From  the  conversion  of  Eng- 
land to  the  Church  until  the  seventeen  years  when  Puri- 
tanism drove  the  "  Elect  Lady  "  into  the  wilderness  (1645- 
1662)  such  a  thing  as  an  unbaptized  Englishman  was 
practically  unknown.  And  it  was  only  after  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Church  that  it  became  necessary  to  insert  in 
the  Prayer  Book  an  Office  for  "  the  Baptism  of  Adults,''''  to 
make  up  for  the  neglect  of  Regeneration  during  that  period 
of  sacrilege  and  self-will. 

To  sum  up,  then,  as   one   has  said,  "All  testimony  of 
writers  down  to  the  twelfth  century  approves  its  use  [infant 

11.  St.  ?.lark,  X.,  16.    13.  St.  Mark,  s.,  14. 


AUTHORITY.  43 

Eaptism],  and  there  is  not  one  saying,  quotation,  or  exam- 
ple, that  makes  against  it." 

Consequently  the  Anglican  Church  is  right  in  declaring 
that  the  "  Baptism  of  young  children  is  in  any  wise  to  be 
retained  in  the  Church,  as  most  agreeable  to  the  institution 
of  Christ ;"  13  and  in  instructing  the  people  "that  they 
defer  not  the  Baptism  of  their  children  longer  than  the 
&st  or  second  Sunday  next  after  their  birth,  *  *  * 
unless  upon  great  and  reasonable  cause."  ^^^ 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  it  is  only  such  sects  as  have  lost, 
not  only  the  Apostolic  Ministry,  but  the  whole  "  Church 
Idea,"  that  distort,  underrate,  or  abolish  Holy  Baptism,  or 
stumble  at  the  doctrine  of  Regeneration  which  the  Bible 
and  the  Church  inculcate.  The  fact  is,  if  one  have  a  low 
or  vague  opinion  of  the  Church,  he  will  have  a  low  or  vague 
opinion  of  that  Sacrament  which  makes  us  members  of  the 
Church.  If  the  Church  is  anything  less  than  she,  on  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  claims  to  be,  then  Baptism  is 
only  an  empty  ordinance,  an  indifferent  rite,  a  strange  cere- 
mony, a  meaningless  symbol,  a  powerless  instrument.  But 
what  is  the  Church?  —  that  "  Church  which  God  purchased 
with  His  own  Blood,"  ^^  giving  Himself  for  her  "  that  He 
might  sanctify  and  cleanse  her  by  the  Washing  of  Water  f^^ 
What  is  the  Church  into  which  we  are  baptized  ?  St.  Paul 
says:  "  The  Church  is  His  Body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that 
fiUeth  all  in  all,"  ^^  And  the  baptized  —  what  of  them  ? 
They  have  "all  by  one  Spirit  been  baptized  into  One 
Bodyy '^'^  They  are  "in  Christ."  "As  many  of  you  as 
have  been   baptized   into   Christ  have  put  on  Christ."  ^^ 

13.  Art.XSrNTI.    14.  Private  Baptism  of  Children,  P.  B.    15.  Acts,  xx.,  28.     16. 
Ephesians,  i.,  23.    IT.  1  Cor.,  xii.,  12.    18.  Gal.,  iii.,  26. 


44  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

They  are  the  ''  Body  of  Christ  and  members  in  particular."' 
Their  very  "  bodies  "  are  "  members  of  Christ,"  ^^  and 
they  are  "  partakers  of  the  Divine  Nature^  ^°  The  Church, 
then,  is  the  Mystical  Body  of  Incarnate  God.  A  meta- 
phor? Perhaps  so — but  God's  figures  of  speech  stand 
ever  for  realities,  for  realities  heavenly  and  eternal.  As. 
a  late  writer  has  said  :  "  The  Incarnation  is  a  perpetual 
fact.  What  is  the  supernatural  law,  then,  under  which 
Christ's  own  personal  Body  continues  to  expand  ?  It  is 
this:  human  beings  are  baptized  into  Christ,  according  as  it 
is  written,  '  We  are  members  of  His  Body,  of  His  Flesh 
and  of  His  Bones.'  ^^  Human  beings,  sprouting  like  so 
many  separate  branches  from  the  poisoned  roots  of  Adam, 
are  plucked  thence  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and,  in  Ba])tism^ 
grafted  into  the  new  tree,  Christ;  our  bodies  into  His;  our 
souls  into  His;  our  hopes,  our  imaginations,  our  passions,, 
our  reason  into  His  ;  and  so  the  Tree  enlarges;  so  His  Body 
Visible  expands;  so  the  Stone  [cut  out  without  hands]  grows 
and  becomes  a  Great  Mountain,  and  fills  the  whole  earth; 
according  as  it  is  written:  '  We  are  the  Body  of  Christ.' " 
The  act,  then,  which  unites  human  beings  to  Incarnate 
God,  through  His  Body,  the  Church,  is  beauteous  in  its 
simplicity,  intelligible  in  its  meaning,  transcendently  im- 
portant in  its  sublime  and  far-reaching  effects.  And 
this,  the  Foundation  Sacrament  of  Christ's  Religion,  the 
Anglican  Church,  in  common  with  all  parts  of  Catholic 
Christendom,  not  only  holds  to-day,  but  has  always  re- 
tained, used,  and  prized  ;  otherwise  she  could  lay  no  just 
claim  to  that  true  Catholicity  which  is  based  on  the  his- 
toric continuity  of  Apostolic  truth. 


19.  1  Cor.,  vi.,  15.    20.  2d  Peter,  i.,  4.    21.  Eph.,  v.,  30. 


CHAPTER  YII. 

THE   ANGLICAN   CHURCH    AND    "  THE  APOSTLES'  DOCTRINE." 

"It  is  of  the  essence  of  the  Church  that  it  teach  the  Catholic  Faith." — Dislwtj 
Forbes. 

"  Marlt  how  each  Creed  stands  in  that  test  revealed, 
Romish,  and  S^v^ss,  and  Lutheran  novelties." 

—Lyra  ApOctoUca,  p.  130. 

ZEAL  for  the  vindication  of  Episcopacy,  which  is  of  course 
one  of  the  essentials  of  the  Christian  Church,  has  led 
many  defenders  of  the  Church  to  make  it  the  chief  argument 
why  we  should  be  Churchmen  rather  than  Dissenters.  The 
possession  of  a  valid  Episcopal  Succession  makes  us  "  Epis- 
copalians," but  does  not  necessarily  prove  us  to  be  Ortho- 
dox Catholic  Churchmen,  free  from  "  false  doctrine,  heresy, 
and  schism."  The  Arians  were  Episcopalians,  but  here- 
tics ;  the  Novatians  and  Donastists  were  Episcopalians,  but 
schismatics.  The  historic  continuity  of  the  Anglo-Catho- 
lic Church  depends  not  alone  on  the  Apostolic  Succession, 
but  on  the  uninterrupted  possession  of  all  the  marks  of 
primitive  Catholicity.  Had  our  Church  abolished  the  Sac- 
rament of  Baptism,  Episcopacy  would  not  save  her  ;  had 
she  lost  the  "  Doctrine  of  the  Apostles,"  "  the  Breaking  of 
the  Bread,"  or  "  the  Prayers,"  the  mere  fact  of  having 
■"  Fellowship  with  the  Apostles  "  through  a  Succession  of 


46  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCIIJIAN. 

Bishops,  would  not  make  her  a  true  or  complete  Church,, 
nor  afford  satisfactor}^  reasons  why  we  should  be  Church- 
men, unless  and  until,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  the  golden 
crown  of  Apostolic  Order  should  draw  back  the  lost  jewels 
of  Apostolic  Faith,  Eucharist  and  Worship.  These,  how- 
ever, the  English  Church  never  lost.  I  therefore  depre- 
cate the  phrase,  "  the  restored  Catholicity  "  of  the  English 
Church.  She  was  never  without  it.  In  theory  the  Angli- 
can Church  was  never  Roman,  and  never  Protestant,  though 
at  times  like  a  storm-tossed  bark  she  has  felt  the  whirl- 
pool of  Charybdis,  and  seen  the  broken  crags  of  Scylla. 
If  we  leave  out  of  account  certain  practical  departures  from 
that  theory,  which  were  forced  upon  her  by  the  brute  might 
of  the  Papacy  ^  or  the  grim  and  selfish  tyranny  of  Kings,  ^ 
we  shall  find  that  the  general  faith,  order  and  worship  of 
the  English  Church  have  always  been  substantially  the 
same.  That  this  is  so  in  the  case  of  Baptism  has  been 
shown.  If  it  is  so  also  in  the  case  of  the  four  marks  of 
Catholicity — Apostolic  Faith,  and  Fellowship,  the  Euchar- 
ist, and  the  Prayers  —  then  the  Anglican  Church  may,  more 

1.  6.  g.  The  evils,  which  accompanied  the  medioeval  intrusion  of  Monastic 
orders  from  Italy,  which  claimed  exemption  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  English 
Bishops,  which,  by  the  way,  was  a  direct  violation  of  Canon  IV.,  of  the  General 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  which  says:  "No  monk  shall  live  anywhere,  nor  estab- 
lish a  monastery  or  an  oratory  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  bishop  of  the  city;  and 
that  the  monks  in  every  city  and  district  shall  be  subject  to  the  bishop."  In 
Canon  VIII.  of  the  same  council  we  read:  "  Let  the  clergy  of  the  .  .  .  mon- 
asteries ...  in  every  city  remain  under  the  authority  of  the  bishops,  accord- 
ing to  the  tradition  of  the  holy  fathers ;  and  let  no  one  arrogantly  cast  off  the  rule 
of  his  own  bishop ;  and  if  any  shall  contravene  this  canon  in  any  way  whatever, 
and  will  not  be  subject  to  their  own  bishop,  if  they  be  clergy,  let  them  be  sub- 
jected to  canonical  penalties,  and  if  they  be  monks  or  laymen,  let  them  be  excom- 
municated." 

2.  e.  g.  The  tyranny  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  William  of  Orange,  or  the  silenc- 
ing of  Convocation,  and  the  usurpations  of  Parliament  and  the  Privy  Council 
under  the  Hanoverian  Sovereigns. 


AUTHORITY.  4T 


justly  than  any  other  Branch  of  the  Church  or  than  any 
sect,  claim  the  allegiance  of  all  English-speaking  Christians. 

Taking  these  things  in  their  order  then,  ^vhat  was  the 
"  Faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints,"  the  Faith  of  the 
Early  Church  which  the  Anglican  Church  has  kept?  It 
was  a  belief  in  God,  the  Father  ;  in  Jesus  Christ,  His 
only  Son,  Who  became  Incarnate  of  a  Virgin,  in  His  life 
and  death,  His  Resurrection,  His  Ascension  into  Heaven, 
and  His  coming  again  as  Judge  ;  in  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  the 
Holy  Catholic  Churchy  the  Forgiveness  of  Sins,  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  the  Bod}',  and  Everlasting  Life. 

The  narrative  portions  of  the  New  Testament  show  that 
this,  in  brief,  was  the  Faith  of  the  Early  Church  ;  the 
dogmatic  portions  authoritatively  assert  these  truths  with 
their  necessary  implications.  This  Summary  of  revealed 
truth,  grand  in  its  simplicity,  vast  in  its  comprehensive- 
ness, was  taught  orally  by  the  Apostles,  as  "the  Form  of 
Sound  Words,"  and  was  early  used,  throughout  all  parts 
of  the  Church,  as  a  Profession  of  Faith  for  Candidates  for 
Holy  Baptism.  ^    Christ  had  commanded  all  nations  to  be 


3.  A  very  ancient  form  of  the  Creed,  adapted  to  a  baptismal  profession,  in 
size  and  expression  midway  between  the  longer,  or  Eastern  form  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Creed,  which  was  adopted  at  Nicaea,  or  the  shorter  or  Western  form,  com- 
monly called  the  "Apostle's  Creed,"  is  preserved  in  the  earliest  fragment  extant 
of  the  Baptismal  Liturgy,  in  Book  VH.,  Chapter  XLI.  of  the  "Apostolic  Consti- 
tution," a  work  compiled  by  an  unknown  writer,  probably  between  250  and  300 
A.  D  ,  but  the  materials  of  which  were  much  more  ancient.  The  person  to  be 
baptized  says:  "I  renounce  Satan  and  his  works,  and  his  pomps  and  his  wor- 
ship," etc.  *  *  "And  after  this  renunciation,  let  him,  in  his  dedication  say: 
'I  associate  myself  with  Christ,  and — I  Believe  in  (and  am  baptized  into)  one 
Unbegotten  Being,  the  only  true  God  Almighty,  the  Father  of  Christ,  the 
Creator  and  Maker  of  all  things,  from  Whom  are  all  things; — and  into  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  His  only  begotten  Son,  the  Firstborn  of  the  whole  creation,  Who, 
before  the  ages  was  by  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father,  begotten,  not  created ; 
through  Whom  all  things  were  made,  both  those  in  Heaven  and  those  on  Earth» 


48  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

baptized,  "  in  the  Name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Accordingly  the  Apostles,  having 
stated  this  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  with  a  few  of  the  pre- 
cious results  of  the  Incarnation  in  the  only  natural  and 
logical  order,  '^  required  this  belief  of  those  who  were 
admitted  to  the  Church.  The  tradition  that  the  Creed 
was  composed  by  the  Apostles  has  been  general  in  the 
Church  for  some  1600  years.  The  Creed,  in  substantially 
its  present  form,  is  given  by  St.  Trenseus,  less  than  a  cen- 
tury after  the  death  of  St.  John,  as  something  well  known 
in  his  day.  Traces  of  it  are  found  in  Justin  Martyr  (who 
died  about  150  a.  d.),  St.  Polycarp  for  more  than  fifty 
years  the  Bishop  of  Smyrna  ("for  twenty  years  the  disciple 
of  St  John,"  probably  the  one  addressed  as  the  "Angel  of 
the  Church  in  Smyrna,"  Rev.  ii.,8),  St.  Clement  the  third 
Bishop  of  Rome  (the  "  fellow  laborer  "  of  St.  Paul,  "  whose 
name  is  in  the  Book  of  Life,"  Phil,  iv.,  3),  and  in  St.  Igna- 
tius (for  thirty  years  Bishop  of  Antioch,  and  a  contempo- 
rary of  all  the  Apostles).  As  Dr.  Blunt  observes,  "There 
is  more  reason  for  believing  that  the  Creed  was  composed 


visible  and  invisible;  Who  in  the  last  days  descended  from  Heaven,  and  took 
flesh,  ana  was  born  of  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary,  and  lived  a  holy  life  according  to 
the  laws  of  His  God  and  Father,  and  was  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate,  and  died 
for  us;  and  rose  again  from  the  dead,  after  His  Passion,  the  third  day,  and 
ascended  into  the  Heavens,  and  sitteth  at  the  Right  Hand  of  the  Father.  And 
again  is  to  come  at  the  end  of  the  world,  with  glory,  to  judge  the  quick  and  the 
dead,  of  Whose  Kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end.  I  am  baptized  also  into  the  Holt 
Ghost,  ihat  is,  the  Comforter,  Who  wrought  in  all  the  Saints  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  but  was  afterwards  sent  to  the  Apostles  by  the  Father  according  to 
the  promise  of  our  Saviour  and  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  and  after  the  Apostles,  to  all 
who  believe  :n  the  Holy  Catholic  Church;  into  the  Resurrection  of  the  Flesh,  and 
into  the  Remission  of  Sins,  and  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  into  the  life  of 
the  world  to  come.'" 

4.    For  a  clear  exposition  of  the  unity  and  logical  order  of  the  articles  of  the 
Creed,  see  Ewer's  "Catholicity  in  its  Relation,"  etc.,  p.  53. 


AUTHORITY.  49 


by  the  Apostles,  under  Inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
than  for  believing  the  contrary."  Be  that  as  it  may,  the 
"Apostles'  Creed  "  is  at  least  the  form  into  which  Apostolic 
teaching  crystallized  in  the  West,  as  the  equivalent  Symbol 
which  was  witnessed  to,  ratified,  and  made  universal  at 
Nicsea  and  Constantinople,  is  the  bright  gem  cut  and 
bequeathed  by  Apostolic  hands  in  the  East.  Properly 
speaking  the  "Apostles'  Creed  "  and  the  Nicene  Creed  are 
equally  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  only  diflference  being  that 
the  form  in  which  it  was  handed  down  in  the  West  was  a 
little  more  condensed  than  the  other.  But  there  was  no 
difference  in  its  meaning,  for  any  ambiguity  of  statement 
was  made  up  for  by  the  authoritative  interpretation,  or 
traditional  commentary,  which  may  be  called  by  that 
much  abused  phrase,  the  "sense  of  the  Church."  The 
Nicene  Creed,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  not  _^rs^  drawn 
up  at  the  Council  of  Nicsea  in  325.  All  the  dioceses  of 
Christendom  had  inherited  the  Creed  in  substantially  the 
same  shape,  and  with  absolutely  the  same  import.  The  318 
Bishops  from  all  parts  of  the  Church,  who  met  at  Nicsea 
to  bear  witness  against  Arius'  denial  of  the  Divinity  of 
Christ,  merely  agreed  upon  an  ancient  form  of  the  primi- 
tive Creed,  hallowed  by  devout  and  immemorial  usage  in 
the  Diocese  of  Csesarea,  which  Eusebius,  the  Bishop  of 
Csesarea,  who  presented  it  to  the  Council,  avowed  he  had 
received  from  his  predecessors  in  the  Episcopate,  and  into 
which,  indeed,  he  himself  had  been  baptized.  So  much 
of  the  universally  inherited  apostolical  credendum,  as  bore 
upon  the  Person  of  our  blessed  Lord,  which  was  the  truth 
then  assailed,  was  so  fortified  in  expression,  but  not  altered 
in  meaning,  as  absolutely  and  forever  to  exclude  all  forms 


50  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CRURCRITAN. 

of  Unitarian  infidelity,  and  receive  the  Imprimatur  of  the 
first  Ecumenical  Council.  The  remainder  (following  the 
words  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,")  was  witnessed  to  and 
promulgated  at  the  Second  General  Council  (Constantinople, 
381).  It  was  not  then  drawn  up,  for  the  entire  Creed,  as 
then  authorized,  had  been  in  general  use  for  an  indefinite 
period  antecedent.  ^  The  Creed  thus  ecumenically  ap- 
proved, a  part  at  Nicsea,  the  whole  at  Constantinople,  has 
ever  since  been  received  by  the  entire  Catholic  Church,  as 
the  artimlus  stantis  vel  cadentis  Ecclesise,  and  has  never  been 
altered.  ^  The  Creed  is,  then,  an  unfailing  witness  to  the 
inspired  teaching  of  the  Apostles,  given  by  the  whole 
Church  in  an  age  when  such  testimony  was  possible 
(which  has  long  since  gone  by)  and  received  by  the  whole 
Church;  and  hence,  it  is  an  independent  authority,  conso- 
nant of  course,  with  Holy  Scripture,  and  provable  there- 
from. 

The  "Athanasian  Creed,"  or  Hymn,  composed  about  a. 
D.  430,  stands  on  a  dififerent  basis,  but  is  at  least  venerable 
compared  with  all  Protestant  Confessions.  It  has  never 
received  conciliar  ratification  nor  formal  reception  by  the 
whole  Church — albeit  no  Diocese  in  Christendom  repu- 
diates it  or  denies  its  definitions.  Even  Richard  Baxter  ''' 
could  say  of  it:  "  I  unfeignedly  account  Athanasius'  Creed 
the  best  explanation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  that  I 
ever  read."     It  is  simply  an  admirable  expansion  of  the 


5.  See  Epiphanius'  "Anchorite,"  near  the  end. 

6.  The  "■fiUoque  "  is  no  proper  part  of  the  Creed.  It  asserts  a  Theological 
truth  (see  Dr.  Richey's  admirable  monograph  on  the  subject)  in  harmony  with 
the  Creed,  but  has  never  been  sanctioned  by  any  General  Council,  having  been, 
introduced  by  a  local  Synod  in  the  West,  with  results  greatly  to  be  deplored. 

7.  Keasons  of  the  Chris.  Rel.,  Chap.  IX.,  p.  313. 


AUTHORITY.  51 


truths  of  the  primitive  Creed.  And  the  closer  we  are  to 
the  heart  of  our  Divine  Human  Master,  the  more  faithfully 
we  confess  the  eternal  Trinity  and  worship  the  Divine 
Unity,  the  more  will  we  understand  and  love  that  grand 
statement  of  the  Orthodox  Faith.  The  "  damnatory  "  or 
Enacting  Glauses,  are  hardly  more  a  part  of  the  Creed  than 
the  Anathemas  originally  affixed  to  the  Nicene  Symbol. 
Nevertheless  they  are  precisely  what  our  Saviour  Himself 
has  taught.  ^  This  Creed  is  a  part  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
English  Church,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  regret  to  many  that 
the  Church  in  the  United  States  decided  not  to  insert  it  in 
her  Liturgy  and  Articles.  But  so  far  from  repudiating  it, 
she  is  as  much  bound  by  its  doctrine  as  if  she  had 
retained  it,  since  every  clause  is  contained  explicitly  or  by 
necessary  implication  in  Holy  Scripture  and  in  the  Apos- 
tles' and  Nicene  Creeds.  Moreover,  as  the  Bishop  of  Con- 
necticut has  pointed  out,  "  That  our  Church  accepts  the 
Athanasian  definitions  is  placed  beyond  doubt  by  the 
declaration  in  the  Preface  to  the  Prayer  Book  that  we  do 
not  intend  to  depart  from  the  Church  of  England  in  any 
essential  point  of  doctrine ;  by  the  retention  of  the  Pref- 
ace of  Trinity  Sunday  in  the  office  for  Holy  Communion  ; 
and  by  the  adoption  of  the  first  five  Articles  [which  see]."  ^ 
A  single  word  as  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles.  They  are 
not  a  Creed,  but  a  compendium  of  Anti-Romish  and  Anti- 
Calviniitic  theology,  designed  for  the  Clergy,  not  for  the 
laity.  They  contain  a  few  ambiguous  passages,  but  are  hap- 
pily susceptible  of  a  strictly  Orthodox  and  Catholic  intei- 
pretation. 

8.  See  St.  Mark  xvi.,  16;   St.  John  iii.,  16,  and  viii.  24. 

9.  Note  on  Ath.  Cr.  Am.  Ed.  Browu  on  Art.    See  also  Rev.  F.  W.  Taylors 
excellent  monograph  on  the  "Athanasian  Creed." 


52  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

It  must  now  be  shown  that  the  Apostolic  Faith  is  and 
has  always  been  the  belief  of  the  Anglican  Church. 

That  the  Anglican  Church  has  always  held  the  Creed,  in 
the  same  sense  as  she  holds  it  to-day,  is  a  simple  matter  of 
history.  Dr.  Blunt  says:  "  The  Apostles'  Creed  has  been 
used  in  the  daily  Offices  of  the  English  Church  as  far  back 
as  they  can  be  traced."  British  Bishops,  beyond  reasona- 
ble doubt,  were  present  at  the  Council  of  Nicsea.  At  all 
events,  the  British  Church  not  only  accepted  the  Nicene 
Faith,  but  stands  almost  alone  in  Christendom,  as  a  great 
national  Church  which  passed  through  the  Arian  epidemic 
with  scarce  a  taint  of  the  impious  plague.  Withdrawn 
from  the  turmoil  and  strife  of  the  rest  of  Christendom, 
the  Bishops  of  our  Mother  Church  clung  to  the  primitive 
Faith,  while  the  dreadful  heresy  which  would  dethrone  the 
Son  of  God  was  making  havoc  of  the  Church  in  the  East 
and  even  as  far  West  as  Italy  and  Spain.  "  In  every  city 
of  the  East  and  of  Africa,  the  Arian  party  filled  the  sees, 
held  the  churches,  and  formed  the  most  numerous  party. 
The  Catholics  were  a  despised  and  persecuted  minority."^*' 
Heretical  Bishops,  at  various  times,  ruled  the  Church  in 
Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Ephesus,  Alexandria,  Constantinople 
and  Rome.  ^^ 

In  spite  of  the  Modern  Roman  dogma  that  the  Bishops  of 
Rome  are  all  infallible,  Liberius,  Bishop  of  Rome  (who  died 


10.  Cutt's  Turning  Points  of  Gen.  Ch.  Hist.,  p.  165. 

11.  This,  I  takeit,  is  the  meaning  of  Article  XIX.,  which  declares  that  as  "the 
Churches  of  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch  have  erred,  so  also  the  Church 
of  Rome  hath  erred."  This  Article  does  not  say  that  these  Churches  are  now  in 
error  (which  would  be,  as  the  late  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  said,  an  "accusa- 
tion of  our  neighbor,  out  of  place  in  a  distinguished  confession"),  but  merely  that 
they  liave  erred  in  times  past. 


AUTHORITY.  53 


A.  D.  366),  became  an  Arian,  but  still  governed  the  Church 
in  the  Imperial  City.  Virgilius  was  an  heretic,  and  was 
excommunicated  by  the  Fifth  General  Council  (a.  d.  553). 
Honorius  embraced  the  Monothelite  heresy,  and  was 
anathematized  by  the  Sixth  General  Council  (a.  d.  680). 
The  list  of  English  Archbishops  shows  no  such  apostates 
as  these  !  Various  other  heresies  have  been  held  by  the 
Bishops  of  Rome,  ^^  and  what  one  "  Infallible  Pontiff"  has 
declared  to  be  heresy,  his  equally  infallible  successors  have 
promulgated  as  part  of  the  Faith,  and  necessary  to  salva- 
tion !     [See  note  at  the  end  of  the  Chapter.] 

At  the  Council  of  Sardica  (a.  d.  347)  British  Bishops 
were  present  and  sided  with  the  Orthodox  party.  St. 
Hilary,  Bishop  of  Poitiers  (a.  d.  358),  congratulates  the 
"  Bishops  of  the  British  Provinces  "  that  they  "  have  con- 
tinued undefiled  and  unharmed  by  any  taint  of  the  detes- 
table heresy.''  St.  Athanasius,  the  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria, the  great  champion  of  the  Faith,  in  his  letter  to  the 
Emperor  .Jovian  (a.  d.  363),  places  the  British  Church 
among  the  Churches  loyal  to  the  Catholic  Faith.  St.  Chry- 
sostom,  St.  Jerome  and  other  Fathers  of  the  fourth  century, 
bear  glowing  testimony  to  the  orthodoxy  of  our  old  Brit- 
ish Mother.  It  is  true  that  in  the  fifth  century  a  Briton 
named  Pelagius,  while  on  a  visit  to  Rome,  learned  a  heresy 
which  he  brought  back  to  his  mother  country  ;  but  the 
British  Bishops,  with  the  kindly  assistance  of  two  learned 
Bishops  from  Gaul,  easily  vanquished  Pelagianism. 

Indeed,  no  heresy  touching  the  fundamentals  of  the 
Faith,  has  ever  been  accepted^  even  temporarily^  by  the  Church 
of  the  British  and  Anglo-American  race. 

12.    Cf.  the  cases  of  Ccelestius,  Zosimiis,  Hormisda*  and  others. — Bo,«st(cf  c  SO. 


54  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Our  venerable  sister,  the  Church  of  Rome,  calls  us  heret- 
ical—  not  on  the  ground  that  we  do  not  hold  and  profess 
the  same  old  Creeds  which  both  of  us,  in  common  with 
the  Holy  Eastern  Church,  have  alike  inherited,  but  because, 
forsooth,  we  do  not  accept  certain  additions  to  the  Apostolic 
Faith,  made  on  her  sole  authority,  but  not  sanctioned  by 
any  General  Council,  not  taught  by  the  Fathers,  and  never 
accepted  by  the  Greek  Church  !  It  matters  not  whether 
these  additions  be  true  or  false;  it  is  enough  that  they  are 
novelties,  absolutely  and  forever  ruled  out  in  advance  by  a 
decree  of  the  Fourth  General  Council,  ^^  and  therefore  of 
no  possible  obligation  upon  Catholic  Christians.  How 
much  more  is  this  so,  if  some  of  these  additions  be  found 
to  be  in  themselves,  contradictory ;  in  their  effects  perni- 
cious ;  historically  untrue  ;  and  false  to  the  witness  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  Undivided  Church  and  in  Holy  Writ ! 

Any  loyal  member  of  the  early  Church  would  be  admit- 
ted to-day  to  full  membership  in  the  Anglican  Church, 
which,  in  matters  of  faith,  requires  of  her  children  only 
what  the  earl}'-  Church  required,  viz:  the  Creed.  To  be  a 
Roman  Catholic  one  must  believe  precisely  the  same,  and 
if  that  were  all  that  Rome  requires  we  should  be  at  one. 
As  to  the  Faith  of  the  Universal  Church,  the  Anglican 
Church  at  the  Reformation,  made  no  change.  Even  in 
minor  points  of  doctrine  there  was  then  no  wide  breach 

13.  The  630  Bishops  at  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  voted  as  follows  with  refer- 
ence to  the  Nicene  Creed :  "  The  Holy  and  Ecumenical  Synod  decrees  that  it  is 
not  lawful  for  any  man  to  propose,  or  compile,  or  compose,  or  hold,  or  teach  to 
others,  any  different  Faith.  But  those  who  presume  to  compose  a  different  Faith, 
or  to  propagate,  or  teach,  or  deliver  a  different  Formula  to  persons  desirous  of 
turning  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  from  heathenism,  or  Judaism,  or  any 
heresy  whatsoever,  if  they  be  bishops  or  clergymen,  shall  be  deposed,  *  *  * 
if  they  be  moulis  or  lajrmen,  they  shall  be  anathematised." 


AUTHORITY.  55 


l^etween  the  English  and  the  Latin  Churches,  for  most  of 
the  points  in  dispute  were  not,  at  that  time,  accounted 
essential  even  at  Rome.  Pius  IV.,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  in 
the  year  1559  wrote  a  letter  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  which 
he  acknowledged  the  English  Bible  and  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  "  to  be  authentic  and  not  repugnant  to  truth  ;  and 
that  he  would  allow  it  to  the  English  Church  without  chang- 
ing any  part  of  it,  if  only  her  majesty  would  acknowledge 
to  receive  it  from  him  and  by  his  allowance."  If  we  Angli- 
cans were  not  heretics  then,  we  certainl}^  are  not  now,  for 
we  have  neither  added  to,  nor  detracted  from,  the  Faith  we 
then  held. 

But  since  then  the  Roman  Church  has  added  to  the 
Faith  a  number  of  doctrines  which  the  Undivided  Church 
has  always  either  disallowed  or  else  regarded  as  indifferent; 
viz.,  tiie  Creed  of  Pius  IV.  which  carries  with  it  the  decrees 
of  Trent,  some  five  hundred  in  all ;  the  dogma  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,^'*  which  was 
never  believed  by  the  early  Church,  or  the  Churches  of 
England  and  the  East,  which  St.  Augustine,  in  the  fourth 
century,  St.  Bernard  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  emphatically  denied  ; 
and  last  of  all  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1870,  the  doctrine 
of  the  Personal  Infallibility  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome,  —  a 
doctrine  never  allowed  in  the  early  Church,  the  Greek 
Church,  or  the  English  Church,  and  admittedly  an  open 
question  among  the  strictest  papists  until  fifteen  years  ago  ! ! 

If  it  be  heresy  to  refuse  assent  to  these  novelties,  then 
Anglican  and  Greek  Churchmen  are  heretics,  and  so  were 

14.    Promulgated  in  1854. 


56  REASOIfS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

the  Apostles  and  Saints  of  old.  If  this  be  heresy,  make 
the  most  of  it !  We  are  at  least  in  good  company.  Oh  ! 
if  Rome  would  confine  her  dogmas  to  the  primitive  Faith, 
that  Creed  of  the  Universal  Church,  which  w^e  both  hold 
and  have  held,  and  which  is  still  a  bond  of  union  despite 
our  unhappy  estrangement ;  or  if  she  would  at  least  leave 
these  new  beliefs  optional,  then,  so  far  as  the  Faith  is  con- 
cerned, the  three  Branches  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Greek 
and  Latin  and  English,  would  be  One. 

A  single  word  as  to  the  rehition  of  Dissenters  to  the  Apos- 
tolic Faith.  Of  the  hundreds  of  Protestant  sects,  very  few 
formally  accept  even  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  none,  so  far  as 
I  am  aware,  require  a  belief  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  even  on 
the  Y>avt  of  their  "  ordained  "  preachers.  i°  I  lay  it  down 
as  a  thesis,  which  I  am  prepared  to  maintain,  that  no  body 
of  Dissenters  really  believes  the  Creed.  They  all,  from  the 
Presbyterians  to  the  Socinians,  accept  the  first  part  of  the 
first  article,  viz.,  "  I  believe  in  God,"  but  some  do  not 
believe  in  His  Fatherhood.  Some  do  not  believe  "  in  Jesus 
Christ,  His  only  Son,  our  Lord,"  in  His  miraculous  Con- 
ception and  Birth,  His  Atoning  Death,  His  Descent  into 
Hades,  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension,  and  in  His  Com- 
ing again  for  judgment.  Some  sects  do  not  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  none  of  them  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Church  has  used  these 
words  from  the  beginning.  Few,  if  any,  believe  the 
Church's  doctrine  of  the  "  Communion  of  Saints,"  or  the 
"  forgiveness   of  sins  "  (especially  in  the  Nicene   sense  of 

15.  I  refer  only  to  the  English-speaking  Protestants.  It  is  true  the  Irvingites 
retain  the  three  Creeds,  in  words,  though  they  do  not  in  sense,  for  their  interpre- 
tation of  the  article,  "I  believe  in  One  Holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolic  Church,"  is 
strange  and  unique  indeed. 


AUTHORITY. 


"  One  Baptism  for  the  Remission  of  Sins"),  or  the  "  Resur- 
rection of  the  Flesh  ";  and  one  whole  sect  is  founded  on  a 
protest  against  the  word  "  everlasting,"  as  applied  to  the 
conditions  of  the  future  life  !  ! 

Eliminate  every  article  of  the  Creed  which  is  rejected  by- 
one  or  more  of  the  Denominations,  and  what  remains  ?  A 
belief  in  God.  Yes,  thank  the  Lord,  no  dissenting  church 
has  dogmatically  denied  that^  however  much  they  have 
denied  of  what  God  has  revealed  concerning  Himself  and 
His  Kingdom  of  Grace. 

No  wonder  that  many  thoughtful  Dissenters,  weary  of  a 
religion  of  negations,  "  the  strife  of  tongues,"  are  looking 
towards  that  ancient  Church  which  still ''  continues  stead- 
fastly in  the  Apostles'  Doctrine,"  and  "with  one  mouth  pro- 
fesses the  Faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints." 


Note.— In  addition  to  the  "Infallible"  Heretics,  mentioned  on  p.  53,  five 
Bishops  of  Rome  (John  XII.,  Benedict  IS.,  Gregory  VI.,  Gregory XII.,  and  John 
XXIII.)  were  deposed  by  Western  Councils,  for  such  freaks  of  Infallihility  as 
heresy,  schism,  sorcery  and  crime.  See  also  Littledale's  "  Plain  Reasons  against 
Joining  the  Church  of  Rome,"  p.  160,  et  Seg» 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  apostles' FELLOWSHIP  :     WHAT  SAITH    THE   SCRIPTURE? 

^'Episcopacy  is  the  only  form  of  Church  order  contained  la  the  Scriptures 
and  manifest  from  ancient  authors :  and  consequently,  whether  a  Church  should 
be  now  Episcopal  or  not,  is  a  question  to  be  settled  upon  considerations,  not  of 
mere  expediency,  but  of  deference  to  the  model  of  the  primitive  Church,  as  it 
was  constituted  by  the  Apostles  under  the  guidance  of  inspiration;  so  that  no 
one  ought  to  be  accounted  a  'lawful  minister  in  this  Church,  or  suffered  to 
execute  any  functions  of  the  ministry,  unless  he  hath  had  Episcopal  Ordina- 
tion.' ''—Bishop  Mcllvaine. 

"The  history  of  Christianity  is  the  history  of  Episcopacy.  They  are  found 
united  from  the  very  first.  Nor  is  there  less  evidence  for  the  prevalence  of  this 
form  of  government  in  the  primitive  Church  than  there  is  of  the  reception  of  the 
Scriptures,  or  the  use  of  the  Sacraments  in  those  times."— Palmer. 

DE  QUINCEY  has  said  :  "  What  a  Church  teaches  is 
true  or  not  true,  without  reference  to  her  individual 
right  of  teaching."  We  have  seen  that  the  Anglican 
Church  teaches  the  Orthodox  Faith.  W^e  must  now 
inquire  whether  she  has  a  right  to  teach  it,  a  right  born  of 
Apostolic  Fellowship,  the  authority  which  comes  of  valid 
Orders  and  lawful  Jurisdiction.  For,  as  the  Bishop  of 
Quincy  remarked  to  Mr.  Moody,  the  revivalist :  "  When 
a  boy  brings  us  a  dispatch,  and  we  want  to  be  sure  it  is 
genuine,  we  like  to  see  '  Western  Union  Telegraph  '  on  the 
boy's  cap." 

Is  Episcopacy  or  a  line  of  Bishops,  who,  by  regular 


AUTHORITY.  59 


Ordination,  succeed  to  the  office  and  commission  which 
Christ  gave  the  AjDOstles,  necessary  to  the  unity,  the  con- 
tinuity, and  the  authority  of  the  Church? 

Viewed  a  priori,  the  question  resolves  itself  into  this  : 
Did  Christ  mean  the  Apostolic  Office  to  be  temporary  or 
permanent  ?  Permanent,  beyond  all  shadow  of  doubt. 
Why,  He  promised  to  be  with  the  Apostles  not  merely  for 
their  natural  lives,  but  "  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  Moreover,  He  gave  them  the  whole  earth  as 
their  field  of  Jurisdiction,  and  bade  them  do  what  the 
Apostolate  will  not  have  accomplished  for  many  years 
yet,  viz.:  Go  into  all  the  world,  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature,  and  baptize  all  nations.  And  how  did 
they  act?  They  ordained  certain  men,  called  Deacons,  to 
relieve  them  of  some  of  their  minor  duties. ^  Then  they 
ordained  Priests  in  every  place  where  they  had  gathered  a 
congregation. 2     But  did  they  stop  with  that  ?     Did  they 

1.  Acts,  vi. 

2.  Acts,  xiv.,  23,  et  passim.  It  should  be  remembered  that  P?-icst  is  but  a 
shortened  form  of  Presbyter.  The  two  words  are  used  interchangeably.  The 
office  of  the  Christian  Slinister  (above  the  rank  of  Deacon)  is  distinctively  sacer- 
dotal—ssLceidotnl  in  a  higher  and  more  spiritual  sense  than  even  the  Aaronic 
Priesthood,  because  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  or  "Sacrifice  of  the  New  Covenant," 
as  St.  Irenaeus  calls  it  (Ir.,  iv.,  17.,  5).  St.  Paul  speaks  of  himself  as  "Priestingr 
the  Gospel  of  God"  [the  word  is  hierourgounta,  Horn.,  xv.,  16],  and  he  calls 
himself  a  Leitourgos.  The  very  earliest  Fathers  call  Presbyters  Priests, 
''■Sacerdotes,''''  and  it  is  only  a  narrow  and  superstitious  prejudice  which,  because 
prir.stlij  powers  have  sometimes  been  abused,  affects  to  deny  the  title  of  Priest 
to  the  Ambassadors  of  God  and  Stewards  of  the  ilysteries  of  His  Grace.  The 
Anglican  Church,  of  course,  has  always  preserved  the  identity  of  the  Christian 
Priesthood  (as  well  as  the  identity  of  the  Episcopate)  as  seen  in  the  character  of 
the  ordination,  the  phraseology  employed,  the  official  titles,  the  functions  pre- 
scribed, and  the  symbols  of  office,  especially  the  vest mcyils— of  which  Bp.  Forbes 
eays:  "We  see  in  the  maintainance  of  the  habits  [vestments]  the  assertion  of 
the  sacerdotal  continuity  of  the  Church  before  and  after  the  Reformation,  and 
the  denial  of  its  identity  with  the  purely  Protestant  bodies."  (Int.  to  the  XXSIX. 
Arts.,  p.  XXI.)    Moreover,  the  Latin  form  of  the  thirty-nine  articles,  which  is  of 


60  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCH3IAN. 

allow  their  perpetual  commission  to  lapse  with  themselves  ? 
Did  they  intend  to  leave  the  Church,  that  Aionian  King- 
dom, which  the  Son  of  God  had  given  to  them,  with  only 
the  sterile  Orders  of  Presbyter  and  Deacon?  By  no 
means.  As  the  Jewish  Church  had  its  High  Priest,  its 
Priests  and  its  Levites,  so  the  Catholic  Church  was  to  have 
its  three  Orders — Apostles,  Presbyters  and  Deacons.  But 
if  so,  we  must  expect  to  find  the  Apostles  ordaining  also 
an  Order  of  Ministers  who  rank  above  the  lowly  Deacons 
and  Presbyters.  In  other  words,  if  the  Apostolic  Office- 
was  to  be  peri^etuated,  we  ought  to  find  evidence  in  the 
New  Testament  and  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  that 
there  were  Apostles,  or,  as  we  now  call  them.  Bishops,  in 
addition  to  the  original  Twelve,  but  who  shared  their 
office,  received  the  power  to  ordain,  and  inherited  all  the 
permanent  grace  and  authority  of  the  Apostoiate. 

The  perennial  ivy  grows  from  the  cathedral's  foundation 
to  the  cross-topped  spire,  an  unbroken  vine ;  but  all  the 
way  it  keeps  sending  forth  roots  and  rootlets,  which  cling 
to  the  hallowed  stones  and  feed  the  growing  stem,  yet  them- 
selves move  not  on.  So  the  Catholic  Episcopate,  spring- 
ing from  the  "  Root  of  Jesse,"  climbs  the  centuries  of  the 
Church's  life,  ever  setting  the  Priests  and  Deacons  in  their 
hallowed  place,  and  drawing  from  them  the  material,  but 
not  the  life,  of  its  own  supernal  and  ever-lengthening  Suc- 
cession. 

We  have  seen  already  that  Matthias  was  chosen  to  suc- 
ceed to  the  "  Bishoprick  "  of  Judas,  to  "  take  part  of  this 

equal  authority  with  the  English  form,  leaves  no  room  for  ambiguity,  for  it  uses 
the  word  SaceixJos  for  Priest;  and  the  American  Prayer  Book  speaks  of  the 
^'' nacerdotal  functions,"  etc.,  of  our  Priests. 


AUTHORITY.  61 


Ministry  and  Apostleship."^  This  shows  that  the  "Apos- 
tleship"  was  to  continue.  The  charmed  circle  of  the 
Twelve  enlarges  ;  St.  Matthias  is  the  "  Thirteenth  Apostle." 
Soon  after  another  is  chosen,  James,  a  near  relative  (or 
■"  brother,"  as  he  was  called  in  Hebrew  and  Greek)  of  the 
Lord.  He  had  not  at  first  believed  in  Christ  ;^  but  the 
Lord,  after  His  Resurrection,  appeared  to  James. ^  At  all 
■events  James  believed  ;  and  became  an  Apostle  and  the 
first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  the  Head  of  that  long  line  of 
Prelates  which  still  rules  the  Mother  of  all  Churches.  St. 
Clement,  a  Priest  of  Alexandria,  in  the  age  next  to  that  of 
the  Apostles,^  when  abundant  evidence  was  at  hand,  says  : 
"  Peter,  James  and  John  did  not  contend  for  the  honor  of 
presiding  over  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  ;  but  with  the 
rest  of  the  Apostles  chose  James  the  Just  to  be  Bishop  of 
that  Church."  St.  Jerome,  the  greatest  scholar  of  the 
fourth  century,  who  spent  thirty  years  in  the  Holy  Land, 
says,  in  speaking  of  St.  James,  in  order  to  show  that 
'' others  besides  the  Twelve  were  called  Apostles:"  "By 
degrees,  in  process  of  time,  others  also  were  ordained  Apos- 
tles by  those  whom  the  Lord  had  chosen."     And  in  his 


3.  Acts,  i.,  25. 

4.  The  theory  that  James?  the  Lord's  brother,  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was 
•one  of  the  Twelve,  seems  to  be  fairly  excluded  by  the  assertion,  that  "  Neither 
did  his  hrethren  believe  on  Him"  (St.  John,  vii.,  5).  Moreover,  this  James  is 
specially  mentioned  along  with  Simon  and  Joses,  in  a  way  which  precludes  his 
l)eing  one  of  the  Twelve  (St.  Matth.,  xiii.,  55-6).  Bishop  Lightfoot  says :  '■^ James, 
though  not  one  of  the  Twelve,  appears,  from  the  very  first,  to  have  held  the  posi- 
tion of  '  a  bishop  in  the  later  and  more  special  sense  of  the  word.' " — "  On  Philip- 
pians  "  (6th  ed.),  p.  197.  Either  way,  however,  the  Episcopacy  of  St.  James  is  a 
etrong  point  in  favor  of  Catholic  order,  for  if  he  was  one  of  the  Twelve,  we  have 
an  instance  of  one  of  the  original  Apostles  settling  down  to  the  work  not  merely 
of  a  Bishop  (which  they  all  did),  but  of  a  Diocesan  Bishop. 

5.  "After  that  he  was  seen  of  James."    I  Cor.,  sv.,  7. 

6.  A.  D.  180. 


62  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

biographical  sketch  of  St.  James  he  says  :  "After  the 
passion  of  the  Lord  he  (James)  was  forthwith  ordained  by 
the  Apostles  as  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,"^ and  that  he  ruled 
{rexit)  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  for  thirty-one  years.  How 
exactly  all  this  agrees  with  the  Scripture  narrative,  which 
implies  throughout  that  James  governed  the  Diocese  of 
Jerusalem, 

He  presided  at  the  First  Council  of  "Apostles,  Elders 
and  brethren,"  held  in  Jerusalem,  a.  d.  50  ;  he  summed 
up  the  argument  and  pronounced  the  decision  :  ''  Where- 
fore my  sentence  is,"  etc.^ 

St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  messengers  who  carried  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  to  Antioch,  as  coming  "  from 
James.'''' ^  Indeed,  when  St.  Paul  went  up  to  Jerusalem 
to  attend  the  Council,  he  speaks  of  ^^  James,  Cephas,  and 
John,  who  seemed  to  be  i^illars,"^^  giving  James  prece- 
dence over  Peter  and  John  in  the  Holy  City.  Fourteen 
years  before,  when  St.  Paul  first  went  up  to  Jerusalem 
after  his  conversion,  and  spent  a  fortnight  with  St.  Peter, 
he  says  :  "  Other  of  the  Apostles  saw  I  none  save  James,  the 
Lord's  brother,"  ^1  who  appears  always  to  have  resided  in 
his  diocese,  while  the  rest  of  the  Apostles  were  Missionary 
Bishops,  Apostles  at  large.  Twenty  years  later,  when  St. 
Luke  and  others  accompanied  St.  Paul  to  Jerusalem,  they 
had  an  interview  with  the  Bishop,  which  St.  Luke  de- 
scribes in  these  words  :  "  The  day  following,  Paul  went  in 
with  us  unto  James,  and  all  the  Presbyters  were  pres- 
ent." ^^     When   St.  Peter   was   released   from   prison,   he 

7.  "Post  passionem  Domini,  statim  ab  Apostolis  Hierosalymorum  Episco- 
piis  ordinatus." 

8.  Acts,  XV.,  13.      9.  Gal.,  ii.,  13.      10.  Id.,  9.      11.  Gal.,  1.,  18-19.     12.  Acts, 
xxi.,  18. 


AUTHORITY.  63 


ordered  that  news  of  his  escape  should  be  carried  to 
James.  "Go  show  these  things  to  James.^^'^^  Indeed,  as 
Dr.  Mines  (to  whom  the  writer  acknowledges  much  in- 
debtedness) puts  it  :  ''  All  antiquity  agrees  that  James 
was  Bishop  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,"  Here,  then,  we 
have  the  fourteenth  Apostle. 

That  St.  Paul,  though  not  one  of  the  Twelve,  was  an 
Apostle,  no  one  can  doubt.  Again  and  again  he  calls  him- 
self an  Apostle.  He  stood  on  precisely  the  same  ground 
as  the  original  Twelve,  for  he  was  appointed  and  commis- 
sioned by  Christ  Himself.  He  styles  himself  "An  Apostle 
not  of  men,  neither  by  man,  but  by  Jesus  Christ." ^^ 
Twice  he  tells  us  that  he  was  "  not  a  whit  behind  the 
chiefest  of  the  Apostles."  ^^  "Am  I  not  an  Apostle  f'^  says 
he  to  the  Corinthians ;  and  to  Titus,  he  writes  :  "  I  am 
ordained  a  preacher  and  an  Apostle.^' 

Not  to  prolong  this  part  of  the  subject,  I  give  a  list  of 
those  who  are  expressly  called  "Apostles  "  in  the  Greek  of 
the  New  Testament,  in  addition  to  the  Twelve  :  Matthias, 
James,  Paul,  Barnabas,  Andronicus,  Junias,  Epaphrodi- 
tus,  Timothy,  Titus,  Silas,  and  Luke.  The  very  name 
Apostle  is  applied  to  these  eleven  men,  by  God  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Moreover,  they  are  seen  doing  the  same  work  as 
the  Twelve,  and  are  constantly  mentioned  by  the  Fathers 
and  early  historians  as  Apostles  or  Bishops  ordained  by 
the  Apostles. 

For  example,  history  and  tradition  bear  witness  to  the 
fact  that  the  Apostle  Timothy  was  the  first  Bishop  of 
Ephesus,  and  the  Apostle  Titus  the  first  Bishop  of  Crete, 

13.  Acts,  sii.,  ir.     14.  Gal.,  i.,  1.    15.  II  Cor.,  xi.,  5,  and  xii.,  11. 


04  REASONS  FOB  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

being  ordained  and  appointed  thereto  by  the  Apostle 
Pauh  The  epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy  and  Titus  not 
only  accord  with  this  statement,  but  are  irreconcilably 
absurd  on  any  other  supposition,  for  they  show  that  these 
men  were  left  by  St.  Paul  not  only  with  power  to  do  such 
things  as  all  Presbyters  could  do,  but  also  to  superintend 
the  whole  work  of  the  Church  in  their  respective  juribdic- 
tions — to  give  order  concerning  the  doctrine  which  the 
Presbyters  were  to  preach  ;  to  rectify  all  deficiencies  ;  to 
ORDAIN  Presbyters  in  all  the  cities  ;  to  examine  into  the 
qualifications  of  candidates  for  the  Priesthood  and  the 
Diaconate,  being  careful  to  ^''lay  hands  suddenly  on  no 
man  ; "  to  have  charge  of  promoting  faithful  Priests  and 
Deacons  ;  to  settle  the  liturgical  and  sacramental  systems 
on  a  complete  and  uniform  basis,  prescribing  "  supplica- 
tions, prayers,  intercessions  and  Eucharists,  "^^  for  all  men, 
for  kings,  etc.;  to  discipline  the  laity;  to  enforce  obedience 
to  the  moral  law;  to  regulate  marriage  ;  to  have  a  special 
care  over  the  setting  apart  of  widows  and  virgins  as  Sis- 
ters or  Deaconesses ;  to  enforce  the  Creed  or  "  form  of 
sound  words,"  and  after  one  or  two  warnings,  to  excom- 
municate "  a  man  that  is  an  heretic.''''  And  whence  came 
all  this  authority  and  power  ?  St.  Paul  tells  us,  for  he 
says  to  his  "  son  Timothy  : "  ''  Stir  up  the  gift  of  God 
which  is  in  thee  by  the  putting  on  of  my  hands."  ^'' 

16.  See  tbe  Greek. 

17.  II.  Timothy,  i.,  6.  The  assertion  here  made  that  Timothy  received  the 
gift  "Bt  (dia)  the  putting  on"  of  St.  Paul's  hands,  is  not  wealiened  (as  some 
have  claimed)  by  the  expression,  in  I.  Tim.,  iv.,  14:  "The  gift  that  is  in  thee, 
which  was  given  thee  by  prophecy,  with  {meta)  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
presbytery.''''  The  assumption  that  this  implies  the  right  of  Priests  (Presbyters) 
to  ordain,  is  wholly  unwarranted.  For  it  is  clear  that  in  the  ordination  of  St- 
Timothy,  mentioned  in  II.  Tim.,  i.,  6.,  St.  Paul  himself  was  the  consecrator 


AUTHORITY.  65 


I  leave  it  to  any  candid  reader  to  say  whether  the  work 
of  Timothy  and  Titus  was  not  clearly  and  incontroverti- 
bly  the  work  of  a  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God  ? 

Besides  the  original  Twelve  and  the  eleven  who  are 
called  Apostles  in  the  New  Testament,  twenty -three  in  all, 
there  are  many  more  who  are  called  "  companions,  fellow- 
laborers,"  etc.,  who  seem  to  have  done  the  same  work,  and 
who,  though  not  expressly  called  Apostles  in  the  Bible, 


["By  the  putting  on  of  mt  hands"].  If  the  reference,  in  I.  Tim.,  iv.,  14,  be  to 
the  same  ordination,  then  the  expression,  "With  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
the  Presbytery,"  merely  implies  that  certain  men  were  associated  with  St.  Paul 
in  the  act  of  ordination  which  he  performed.  Now,  who  were  these  men  ?  "The 
'Presbytery,'"  says  Dr.  Blunt,  "has  been  understood  by  St.  Chrysostom,  Theo- 
doret,  Oecumenius,  Theophyloct,  Suicer,  and  all  the  best  commentators,  ancient 
and  modern,  to  designate  the  College  of  Bishops''''— I.  e.,  the  Apostles  who  assisted 
St.  Paul  in  the  consecration  of  Timothy  to  the  Apostolic  Episcopate,  according 
to  the  rule  which  afterward  universally  prevailed,  that  at  least  thrxe  Bishops 
should  take  part  in  the  ordination  of  every  Bishop.  The  Apostles,  it  should  be 
remembered,  often  called  themselves  Presbyters,  for  the  greater  includes  the 
less.  As  late  as  A.  D.  107,  St.  Ignatius  speaks  of  the  "Apostles  "  as  "  the  Pres- 
bytery of  the  Church." 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  take  the  view  that,  while  the  act  mentioned  in  11. 
Tim.,  i.,  6,  was  the  ordination  of  Timothy  to  the  Episcopate,  the  act  mentioned  in 
I.  Tim.,  iv.,  14,  M'as  his  previous  ordination  to  the  Priesthood,  what  then?  Why, 
we  may  hold  that  the  ordination  which  was  undoubtedly  performed  by  St.  Paul  as 
Bishop,  was  accompanied  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  some  Priests,  as  a 
token  of  their  assent  to  the  act— as  has  been  customary  in  Western  Christendom 
since  the  fifth  century — though  it  would  be  an  isolated  instance,  so  far  as  we 
know,  in  the  Eastern  and  Early  Church.  It  must  be  remembered  also  that  St. 
Ambrose,  St.  Hilary,  and  St.  Jerome  among  ancient,  and  Calvin  and  many  others, 
among  modern  interpreters,  make  the  phrase,  "of  the  Presbytery,"  refer  to  the 
Office  to  which  Timothy  was  ordained:— "Neglect' not  the  gift  of  the  Priest- 
hood {Presbyteriou)  that  is  in  thee,  which  was  given  thee  by  prophecy,  with  the 
laying  on  of  the  hands."    Here  is  what  Calvin  says  of  it: 

"Paul  speaks  of  himself  as  having  laid  hands  upon  Timothy  without  any 
mention  of  any  others  having  united  with  him.  '  I  put  thee  in  remembrance  that 
thou  stir  up  the  gift  of  God  which  is  in  thee  by  the  putting  on  of  my  hands.' 
His  expression,  in  the  other  epistle,  of  'the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presby- 
tery,' I  apprehend  not  to  signify  a  company  of  Elders,  but  to  denote  the  ordina- 
tion itself;  as  if  he  had  said.  Take  care  that  the  grace  which  thou  receivedst  by 
the  laying  on  of  hands,  ichen  I  ordained  thee  a  Presbyter,  be  not  in  vain."— Cal- 
vin's "Institutes,"  Book  IV.,  end  of  Chap.  iii. 


m  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCH31AN. 

are  so  called  by  the  early  Christian  writers.  For  exam- 
ple :  Dionysius,  Gaius,  Aristarchus,  Archippus,  Antipas 
(the  "  faithful  martyr  "),  Crescens,  Euodias,  Linus,  Clement, 
Mark,  Judas,  and  the  "  Angels  "  of  the  Seven  Churches  in 
Proconsular  Asia.  These  eighteen  (to  mention  no  others) 
should,  therefore,  be  added  to  the  twenty-three  given 
above,  as  clergymen  of  the  Early  Church  who  ranked 
above  the  Presbyters  and  Deacons,  who  were  associated 
with  the  Apostles,  called  Apostles  by  the  Fathers,  and 
rated  in  history  and  tradition  as  Apostolic  Bishops.  Nor 
is  there  in  the  New  Testament  a  single  word  which  im- 
plies the  "  parity  of  the  ministry,"  or  makes  against  a 
genuine  and  permanent  Apostolic  Episcopacy. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PRIMITIVE    EPISCOPACY    AND    ITS    OFFICIAL    TITLES. 

"Christ  and  His  princely  race." 

—Lyra  Avostolica,  p.  67. 

BEFORE  presenting  the  evidence  for  Episcopacy  in  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers,  it  is  necessary  to  make  a 
remark  touching  the  use  of  the  words  Apostle,  Bishop, 
Presbyter,  and  Deacon,  in  the  New  Testament. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Apostohc  Church  had  a 
threefold  Ministry:  (a)  The  supreme  and  permanent  order 
of  Apostles,  including  both  the  original  Twelve  and  those 
others  who,  as  St.  Jerome  says,  "  were  by  degrees  in  pro- 
cess' of  time,i  ordained  Apostles  by  those  whom  the  Lord 
had  chosen."  (b)  The  order  of  Presbyters  who  were  or- 
dained in  "every  city."      (c)  The  order  of  Deacons,  an 

1,  Some  disingennous  controversialists  have  claimed  this  passage,  as  going 
to  prove  that  Episcopacy  was  not  primitive,  hecause,  forsooth,  does  not  St.  Jer 
ome  say  that  it  arose  "by  degrees"  and  "in  the  process  of  time  ?"  They  take 
care,  however,  not  to  put  the  whole  passage  before  their  readers,  for  that  shows 
that  the  phrase,  "by  degrees  and  in  the  process  of  time,"  means  as  occasion 
demanded  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Apostles,  for  it  is  distinctly  affirmed  that 
those  others  who  were  ordained  Apostles,  were  ordained  by  those  whom  the  Lord 
had  chosen,  i.  e.,  the  Twelve;  and  if  by  them,  certainly  during  their  lifetime. 
St.  Jerome's  words  are:  "  Paulatim  vero,  tempore  procedente,  et  alii  ab  his  quos 
Dominns  elegerat,  ordinati  Apostoli."  If  successors  of  the  Apostles  were 
ordained  by  the  Apostles,  and  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Apostles,  then  it  is  by 
Apostolic  Authority  that  the  Church  has  always  been  Episcopal. 


68  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

account  of  which  is  given  in  Acts  vi.  That  these  three 
distinct  orders  by  whatever  names  called,  existed  in  the 
Apostolic  Church,  and  have  existed  ever  since,  is  as  cer- 
tain as  that  the  Church  has  existed  at  all. 

Some  people,  however,  have  stumbled  at  the  apparent 
confusion  of  names  by  which  these  orders  were  called. 
But  in  the  first  place  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  a 
higher  order  always  includes  the  lower,^  so  that  an  Apes'- 
tie  could  call  himself  a  "Presbyter,  "^  or  even  a  "Deacon."* 
Indeed,  Christ  Himself,  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  is 
called  an  Apostle,  a  Bishop,  a  Priest,  and  a  Deacon.^  But 
on  the  other  hand,  a  lower  order  could  not  appropriate  a 
title  which  belonged  to  an  higher  order.  Now  it  jb  not 
denied  that  the  term  Deacon  is  the  distinctive  appellation 
of  the  lowest  order.  Apostle  of  the  highest  order,  and  Pres- 
byter of  the  intermediate  order.  But  the  term  Bishop 
(which  means  "Overseer")  was  not  at  first  exclusively 
appropriated  to  one  order  ;  but  was  used  in  its  literal 
rather  than  its  technical  sense.  Accordingly  the  Presby- 
ters are  often  called  Bishops,  as  being  Overseers  or  Pastors 
of  a  congregation,  although  their  Order  was  always  clearly 
distinguished  from  the  order  of  the  Apostles,  to  whom 
gradually  the  title  of  Bishop  became  limited.  How  this 
came  about  would  be  easy  to  surmise  even  if  we  had  no 
positive  evidence.  The  word  Apostle  means  one  who  is 
sent;  and  as,  one  by  one,  those  who  had  received  their 

2.  As  St.  Hilary  expresses  it,  "  In  the  Bishop  are  contained  all  other  orders." 
"Nam  in  Episcopo  omnes  ordines  sunt,  quia  Primus  Sacerdos,  hoc  est  Princeps, 
est  Sacerdotum." 

3.  I.  S.  Pet.,  v.,  1 ;  II.  St.  John,  i.,  1 ;  III.  St.  John,  i.,  1  (Greek). 

4.  Acts,  i.,  17,  25;  xx.,  24;  I.  Cor.,  iii.,  5;  II.  Cor.,  iii.,  6,  and  vi.,  4  (Greek), 

5.  Heh.,  iii.,  1;  I. Pet.,  ii.,  25;  Heb.,  v.,  6;  Kom.,  xv.,  8  (Greek). 


AUTHORITY.  G9 


commission  directly  from.  Christ  ("As  My  Father  hath  sent 
Me,  even  so  send  I  you,^^^) — those  "adamantine  Martyrs 
and  Athletes  "  of  the  Early  Church,  went  up  to  God  in 
chariots  of  fire ;  their  humble  successors  felt  naturally 
enough,  that  there  was  a  certain  propriety  in  limiting  to 
them  the  name  of  Apostle,  and  contented  themselves  with 
the  title  of  Bishop  '^  by  which  the  Apostles,  the  commis- 
sioned chief  pastors  of  the  Church,  have  ever  since  been 
known.  As  an  holy  Father  has  said  :  '^Apostoli  sunt  Epis- 
copV — the  Aj)ostles  are  the  Bishops.  All  this,  I  say, 
might  be  readily  surmised,  to  account  for  the  change  of 
name ;  and  the  writer  begs  to  say  that  he  conceived  this 
explanation  long  before  he  stumbled  upon  those  Patristic 
authorities  which  positively  assert  the  same.  Theodoret, 
a  Syrian  Bishop,  a  disciple  of  the  great  St.  Chrysostom, 
writing  about  the  year  440,  says  :  "  The  same  persons 
were  in  ancient  times  called  indifferently,  Presbyters  or 
Bishops,  at  which  time  those  who  are  now  called  Bishops,  were 
called  Apostles.''^  In  his  commentary  on  First  Timothy, 
iii.,  1,  after  making  the  same  statement,  he  adds  :  "  In 
process  of  time,  the  name  of  Apostle  was  left  to  those  who 
were  in  the  strict  sense  Apostles  [i.  e.,  sent  directly  by  Christ 
Himself],  and  the  name  of  Bishop  was  confined  to  those 
who  were  anciently  called  Apostles."  The  same  thing  is 
said  by  St.  Jerome,  St.  Hilary,  St.  Chrysostom,  and  St. 


6.  St.  John.  XX.,  21. 

7.  "  The  name  Bishop  hath  been  borrowed  from  the  Grecians,  with  whom  it 
signifleth  one  which  hath  principal  charge  to  guide  and  oversee  others.  The 
same  word  in  ecclesiastical  writings  being  applied  unto  Church  governors,  at  the 
first  unto  all,  and  not  unto  the  chiefest  only,  grew  in  short  time  peculiar  and 
proper  to  signify  such  episcopal  authority  alone  as  the  chiefest  governors  exer- 
cise over  the  rost." — Hooker. 


TO  BEASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCH3IAN. 

Clement,  who  was  a  Priest  and  teacher  in  Alexandria  in 
the  year  189.8 

It  must  be  remembered  that  this  gradual  change  of  name 
involved  no  change  in  the  character  of  the  office.^  If  we  in 
the  American  Church  should  gradually  introduce  the  cus- 
tom of  calling  our  Bishops,  Presidents  or  Superintendents, 
it  would  not  alter  their  office  nor  affect  their  Apostolic 
functions.  We  have  already,  whether  wisely  or  not, 
changed  several  of  the  titles  used  in  our  Mother  Church  of 
England,  without  affecting  the  position  or  work  of  those 
to  whom  the  title  belongs.  We  call  our  Primate  "the 
Presiding  Bishop,"  but  his  office  is  none  the  less  that  of 
Primate.  We  call  our  Episcopal  Coadjutors  by  the  syn- 
onymous term,  "  Assistant  Bishops,"  and  our  Ecclesiastical 
Synods  by  the  less  technical  and  less  correct  designation  of 
"Convention." 

I  have  dwelt  thus  at  length  upon  what  is  a  very  simple 
matter,  the  change  of  a  name  (a  matter  of  philology  rather 
than  of  Ecclesiastical  order),  because  controversial  oppo- 
nents of   the  divine  institution   of  Episcopacy  have   a 

8.  Bingham,  in  his  "Orig.  Ecc,  II.,  2,  1,"  quotes  also  an.  ancient  hut  un- 
known writer  who  called  himself  Ambrose,  who  speaking  of  those  who  were  or- 
dained to  succeed  the  Apostles,  says .  "  They  thought  it  not  becoming  to  assume 
to  themselves  the  name  of  Apostles,  but  dividing  the  names  they  left  to  Presby- 
ters the  name  of  Presbytery,  and  they  themselves  were  called  Bishops.'''' 

9.  I  cannot  forjbear  to  quote  here  a  striking  passage  from  "Mine's  Pres. 
Clerg.  Looking  for  the  Church,  page  413."  Speaking  of  St.  Timothy's  ordination 
as  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  he  says:  "We  care  not  by  what  name  you  call  him— 
Priest,  Presbyter,  Bishop,  Suffragan,  Superintendent,  Ruler,  Governor,  Evange- 
list, Missionary,  Moderator,  Primus-Presbyter,  Apostle,  Assistant  of  the  Apostle, 
Messenger,  Prelate,  Angel,  Antistes,  Princeps,  Prreses,  Propositus,  Archon, 
Proestus,  or  Prefect  (as  Calvin  styles  James  in  the  Church  at  Jerusalem)— caZJ 
?i  m  by  what  name  you  please ;  write  it  in  Latin,  Greek,  or  Hebrew ;  read  it  for- 
ward; read  it  backward;  it  comes  to  the  same  thing;  Timothy  succeeds  to  the 
powers  and  prerogatives  of  Paul." 


AUTHORITY.  71 


bland  way  of  saying  "  Episcopacy  is  an  innovation.  All 
learned  and  pious  Episcopalians  have  now  been  forced  to 
admit  that  in  the  early  Church  there  was  no  difiference 
between  Bishop  and  Presbyter!"  Who  ever  denied  it? 
Theodoret,  Chrysostom,  Hilary,  Jerome,  and  Clement 
were  "  Episcopalians,"  and  they  pointed  it  out  a  thousand 
years  before  the  first  non-episcopal  church  was  founded  ! 
But  just  as  long  as  the  Presbyters  were  called  Bishops, 
just  so  long  were  the  Bishops  called  Apostles.  The  Orders 
were  distinct,  and  remained  unchanged. 

In  some  localities  the  name  Apostle  lingered  as  the 
official  title  of  a  Bishop,  a  good  many  years  afte*-  the 
death  of  St.  John,  as  is  apparent  in  the  "  Didache,^'  or 
^'Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  and  in  occasional 
passages  in  the  early  Fathers. ^°  The  two  names.  Apostle 
and  Bishop,  shade  off  into  each  other.  While  Eusebius 
says  :  "  It  is  recorded  in  history  that  Timothy  was  the 
first  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  Theodoret  and  others  caU  him 
"  the  Apostle  of  the  Asiatics  ;"  the  eloquent  and  scholarly 
Chrysostom  blends  the  titles  and  unifies  the  truth  when 
he  calls  him  "  The  Apostle  and  Bishop  of  Ephesus." 


10.  The  Didache  or  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  recently  discovered 
by  Bryennios,  the  Metropolitan  of  Nicomedia,  was  probahly  written  early  in  the 
second  century.  It  still  calls  the  Pastors  "  bishops,"  i.  e.  overseers,  but  it  speaks 
also  of  an  order  of  Apostles  (called  also  ^' Pr^  phe's''  and  '■'■Hioh  Priests''),  who 
appear  to  be  sort  of  3IUfsionary  Bishops,  whose  duty  it  was  to  make  brief  visita- 
tions of  the  various  parishes.  I  quote  from  Chapter  XI:  "And  with  regard  to 
Apostles  and  Prophets,  do  with  them  according  to  the  ordinance  of  the  Gospel. 
Let  every  ApostJe  who  cometh  to  you  be  received  as  the  Lord."  Says  the  editor 
of  the  "Church  Times:"  "As  the  TcacMng  disposes  of  the  Baptistic  heresy 
with  one  barrel,  so  it  brings  down  Independency  with  the  other;  for  while  it  as- 
sumes that  Bishops  (i.  e.,  Presbyters)  and  Deacons  constituted  the  ordinary 
stated  ministr3',  it  speaks  of  Apostles  and  Prophets  visiting  the  local  churches 
from  time  to  time,  and  it  directs  them  to  be  '  received  as  the  Lord.'  It  also  de- 
clares that  they  are  'High  Pkiests;'  it  demonstrates  that  there  was  an  order  of 
Apostles  and  prophets  other  than  the  Twelve.'^ 


CHAPTER  X. 

PRIMITIVE    EPISCOPACY    AND    THE    TESTIMOlSfY    OF   THE   APOS- 
TOLIC  FATHERS. 

"If  I  know  anything  of  Clinrcli  History,  it  is  that  Episcopacy  is  a  divine  in- 
stitution."—Bts/iop  Wordsworth. 

"  All  over  the  earth,  from  India  to  Spain,  the  Episcopate  was  a  definite  or- 
ganization. It  is  impossihle  to  account  for  thie  hierarchical  uniformity  without 
pre-suppoBing  an  original  Divine  institution.  If  we  consider  the  difiBculty  of  the 
transmission  of  intelligence,  the  rarity  of  the  occasions  of  communication,  the 
deep-rooted  ethnical  peculiarities  of  the  varying  tribes  which  were  converted  to 
Christianity,  we  can  in  no  way  account  for  it  save  on  the  supposition  of  the 
threefold  ministry  being  a  part  of  the  original  constitution  of  the  Christian 
Church."— Bp.  Forbes, 

AMONG  all  the  early  Christian  writings,  including  those 
which  the  Church  has  selected  from  the  rest  and  de- 
clared to  belong  to  the  Canon  of  Holy  Scripture,  we  will  look 
in  vain  for  anything  like  an  argument  in  defense  of  Episco- 
pacy. I  fancy  I  hear  some  reader  exclaim  :  "  Well !  well ! 
how  did  that  happen  ?"  Why,  simply  because  Episcopacy 
was  not  an  open  question.  No  one  thought  of  sitting  down 
to  write  a  treatise  to  prove  that  the  Bishops  were  the  suc- 
cessors of  their  predecessors  (the  Apostles),  and  that  the 
polity  of  the  Church  was  Episcopal,  any  more  than  of 
laboring  to  prove  that  the  Roman  Empire  was  governed 
by  the  Emperor,  or  that  a  human  being  has  a  head  on  his 
shoulders  !  It  was  precisely  the  same  as  in  the  case  of 
Infant  Baptism  :  no  Council  ever  legislated  the  Episco- 
pate into  being  or  decreed  that  infants  should  be  christ- 


AUTHORITY.  73 


ened.  Nobody  was  wild  and  presumptuous  enough  to 
challenge  these  primitive  and  God-given  institutions. 
But  Councils — Ecumenical  and  Provincial — canons,  ser- 
mons, treatises,  commentaries  and  epistles  by  the  score, 
allude  to  Episcopacy  as  primitive  and  universal,  always 
assuming  it  as  a  matter  of  course — a  much  stronger  proof, 
by  the  way,  than  volumes  of  defense,  which  would  imply 
that  it  was  at  least  questioned  in  some  quarters. 

The  Church,  wherever  it  spread,  from  India  to  Britain, 
from  Thrace  to  Ethiopia,  from  Babylon  to  Spain,  was 
always  and  everywhere  Episcopal.  To  argue  that  it  was 
anything  else — e.  g.,  Papal  or  Congregational — is  just  as 
absurd  as  if  the  American  Congress,  in  the  face  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  and  in  defiance  of  history, 
should  argue  that  "  these  United  States  "  were  not  designed 
to  be  a  Republic,  but  an  Absolute  Monarchy,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  an  Anarchy,  having  no  government  at  all. 
And  yet  nothing  is  more  common  than  to  hear  well-mean- 
ing people  say  (as  was  remarked  recently  by  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity  in  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  ^ )  that  the 
Church  of  the  New  Testament  was  Presbyterial  in  its  order 
and  polity.  Presbyterial !  So  it  was,  if  you  ignore  the 
Apostles  who  had  the  oversight  of  the  Presbyters.  So, 
too,  is  the  Anglican  Church  Presbyterial — if  you  leave 


1.  See  "The  Independent,"  February  13,  1885,  p.  4.  Dr.  Bacon,  a  Congrega- 
tional minister,  addressing  tlie  Presbytery,  said:  "  The  nearest  reproduction,  in 
modern  times,  of  the  Church  polity  of  the  New  Testament,  seems  to  me  to  have 
been  in  the  original  type  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  instituted  by  John 
Calvin,  of  Geneva."  Calvin  himself,  however,  was  not  so  sure  of  it,  otherwise 
he  would  never  have  used  the  strong  language  he  did  in  favor  of  Episcopacy  (see 
his  commentary  on  Titus,  Ch.  I,  v.  5,  and  Instit.  lib.  4,  Ch.  4  and  12;.  Nor  would 
he  have  tried  so  hard  to  get  Apostolic  Orders  from  theEnglieh  Church  (see  Strype's 
Life  of  Archb.  Parker,  pp.  140  and  141; 


74  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

out  the  House  of  Bishops  !  England  would  be  a  Republic, 
were  it  not  for  the  Crown ;  and  Russia,  an  Anarchy,  but 
for  the  fact  that  it  happens  to  be  governed  by  the  Czar. 
The  early  Christians  were  Quakers  forsooth,  but  with  the 
fiomewhat  important  difference  that  they  had  the  Ministry, 
the  Sacraments,  and  the  Divine  Liturgy.  The  early 
Church  was  Diaconcd,  but  for  those  venerable  Presbyters 
who  out-ranked  the  Deacons.  In  like  manner  the  early 
Church  was  Presbyterial,  but  for  the  stubborn  fact  that 
over  the  Presbyters  was  an  order  of  Chief  Pastors,  divinely  com- 
missioned, unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Now  in  all  candor,  I  ask, 
is  it  reasonable  in  judging  the  polity  of  a  Church,  to  leave 
■out  of  consideration  the  most  notable,  primitive,  perman- 
ent, and  authoritative  part  of  its  system?  Nevertheless 
this  amazing  process — be  it  sophistry  or  paralogism — is 
gone  through  with  by  everyone  who  can  see  Presbyterian- 
ism  or  Congregationalism  in  the  Church  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament.^ Moreover,  as  the  original  Twelve  did  not  die 
until  they  had  ordained  scores  of  Apostolic  Bishops  to 
succeed  them,  this  rational  (!)  process  must  be  followed 
up  by  the  logical  legerdemain  of  those  who  (as  one  has 
said  with  a  pardonable  pun),  "  can  translate  Jerome, 
Chrysostom,  Augustine,  and  even  Clemens  and  Ignatius, 
by  the  hair  of  the  head,  over  to  the  side  of  Presbyterian- 
ism  !  " 

We  must  not  expect  to  jSnd  a  settled  Diocesan  Episcopacy 
all  at  once — with  mitres  and  crosiers,  Archdeacons,  Ex- 
amining Chaplains,  and  Standing  Committees,  which  are 
but   the   insignia  and   impedimenta   of  the  office.     The 

2.  You  might  as  well  say  that  a  tlirce-stor}'  house  is  only  two  stories  high, 
because  you  are  not  willing  to  look  high  enough  to  see  the  upper  story. 


AUTHORITY. 


Apostles  held  what  may  be  called  a  roving  eommission,  as 
Bishops  at  large.  The  world  was  the  joint  Province  of 
their  Jurisdiction,  It  was  only  gradually  that  it  was  par- 
■celled  out  among  them  and  their  fellow-laborers.  Of  the 
thirty  men  who  are  actually  called  Apostles  ^  in  the  New 
Testanrent,  at  least  fifteen  appear  to  have  settled  down  to 
A  sort  of  local  jurisdiction,  as  Diocesan  Bishops,  viz  : 
St.  James,  in  Jerusalem  ^  ;  Titus,  in  Crete  ^  ;  Epaphroditus, 
in  Philippi^;  Timothy  in  Ephesus"  ;  succeeded  by  Onesi- 


3.  I  include  here  the  seven  who  are  called  "Angels"  of  the  Seven  Churches, 
Avgel  being  a  poetic  synonym  of  Apostle,  in  exact  keeping  with  St.  John's  liter- 
ary and  mystical  style.  Angel  in  Greek  means  messenger,  one  who  is  sent;  and 
Apostle  means  precisely  the  same,  and  is  sometimes  translated  messenger,  as  in 
Phil.,  ii.,  25.  In  the  Angels  of  the  Seven  Churches  no  candid  scholar  can  fail  (as 
Archbishop  Trench  says)  "to  recognize  the  Bishops  of  the  several  Churches.  So 
many  difficulties,  embarrassments,  improbabilities,  attend  every  other  solution, 
which  all  disappear  with  the  adoption  of  this,  while  no  others  rise  in  their  room, 
that  were  not  other  interests,  often,  no  doubt,  unconsciously,  at  work,  it  would 
oe  very  hard  to  understand  how  any  could  ever  have  arrived  at  a  different  conclu- 
sion." Thiersch,  one  of  the  greatest  of  German  scholars,  says:  "  What  are  the 
Angels  of  the  Seven  Churches  but  Superior  Pastors,  each  at  the  head  of  a  congre- 
gation, and  at  least  similar  to  the  later  Bishops.  The  ancients  looked  on  them 
as  Bishops.  Of  all  the  Church  Fathers  who  touch  upon  the  matter,  not  one 
tiiinhs  of  any  other  interpretation.''' — Quoted  in  Timlow's  "Plain  Footprints," 
Chap,  ix.,  winch  see. 

4.  "  [Jacobus]  ab  Apostolis,  Hierosalymorum  Episcopus  ordinatus,"  St.  Jer- 
ome, Scr.  Eccl.,  c.  2.    See  also  Euseb.,  ii.,  23. 

5.  See  Titus,  i.,  1,  ct  passim;  Euseb.,  iii.,  4;  St.  Chrys.  on  Tit.,  i.,  4  and  5; 
"Theod.  on  I.  Tim.,  iii.,  1 ;  St.  Jerome,  Catal,  Scr.  in  Tit.  The  ancient  tradition 
in  Crete  is  that  he  lived  till  the  age  of  94  in  Gortys,  his  see  city.  The  cathedral 
of  the  island  is  dedicated  to  h'm. 

6.  "Epaphroditus  was  called  the  'Apostle'  of  the  Philipplans,  because  he 
■was  entrusted  with  the  Episcopal  government;  for  those  whom  we  now  call 
Bisliups,  were  more  anciently  called  Apostles."  Theod.  on  Phil.,  ii.,  25;  and  see 
Theod.  and  St.  Chrys.  on  Phil.,  i.,  1.  Also  St.  Jerome,  who  calls  him  the  Apostle 
of  the  Philipplans,  and  says:  "Erat  Compar  Officii,''''  i.  e.,  with  St.  Paul. 

7.  See  Epists.  to  Tim.,  passim.  St.  Jerome  says:  "Timotheus  a  Paulo 
Ephesiorum  Episcopvis  ordinatus"  "Timothy  was  ordained  Bishop  of  the 
Ephesians  by  Paul."  See  the  authorities  cited  above  concerning  Titus.  The 
Acts  of  the  Gen.  Coun.  of  Chalcedon  are  referred  to  by  Bishop  Wordsworth,  as 
the  crowning  evidence. 


76  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

mus^,  (the  "Angel  of  the  Church  in  Ephesus  ;")  St.  John 
(who  also  himself  made  his  home  at  Ephesus,  perhaps 
doing  the  work  of  a  diocesan,  between  the  Episcopates  of 
Timothy  and  Onesimus,  but  certainly  returning  to  Ephe- 
sus after  his  banishment  to  Patmos,  and  laboring  as  a  sort 
of  Archbishop  ;  for  Clement  of  Alexandria  ^  tells  us  that 
he  ''  used  to  make  journeys  to  neighboring  Gentile  terri- 
tories, to  ordain  Bishops  in  some,  and  in  others  to  set  in 
order  whole  Churches ")  ;  the  Angel  of  the  Church  in. 
Smyrna  who  was  either  St.  Polycarp,^*^  or  possibly  his 
predecessor ;  the  Angel  of  the  Church  in  Pergamos,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Antipas;  Carpus,  the  Angel  of  the  Church  in 
Thyatira  ;  and  the  three  who  presided  over  the  Churches 
of  Sardis,  Philadelphia,  and  Laodicea.  St.  Peter  also  re- 
mained for  a  long  time  as  Bishop  of  Antioch.  Indeed  St. 
Chrysostom  speaks  of  St.  Ignatius  as  succeeding  St.  Peter 
in  Antioch. ^^ 


8.  Onesimns  was  at  least  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  ten  or  twelve  years  later,  for 
he  is  lovingly  mentioned  as  such  by  Ignatius,  in  his  letter  to  the  Ephesians, 
chap,  vi.,  written  before  107  A.  D. 

9.  See  Quis  Div-  Sdlv.,  c.  42. 

10.  See  letter  of  Ignatius  to  "  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  the  Sniyr- 
neans."  Tertullian  says  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Smyrna  by  St.  John  (See 
Praes.  Her.,  33).  Irenaeus,  who  had  often  conversed  with  him,  says  the  same. 
See  also  Euseb.,  iv.,  14,  Jerome,  and  others. 

11.  The  Roman  Catholic  theory  that  St.  Peter  went  to  Rome,  A.  D.  40,  and 
was  Bishop  of  Rome  for  23  years,  is  demonstrably  absurd.  His  residence  at 
Antioch  must  have  beer  much  later,  for  at  that  time  the  Church  there  was  under 
the  leadership  of  its  founders,  the  Apostles  Paul  and  Barnabas.  (Acts,  si.,  19,  et 
Seq\  Moreover,  St.  Ignatius,  who  succeeded  him  in  Antioch,  could  not  have 
done  so  in  A.  D.  40,  as  he  was  then  but  10  years  old.  To  borrow  the  words  of 
Canon  Farrar:  "As  late  as  A.D.  52,  St.  Peter  was  at  Jerusalem,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  the  Synod  of  Jerusalem  (Acts,  xv.,  7) ;  and  he  was  then  laboring 
mainly  among  the  Jews  (Gal.,  ii.,  7,  8,  9).  In  A.  D.  57,  he  was  traveling  as  a 
Missionary  with  his  wife  (I.  Cor.,  ix.,  5).  He  was  not  at  Rome  when  St.  Paul 
wrote  to  that  Church,  in  A.  D.  58;  nor  when  St.  Paul  came  there  as  a  prisoner  in 
A.  D.  61,  nor  during  the  years  of  St.  PauPs  imprisonment,  A.  D.  61-63,  nor  when 


AUTHORITY. 


During  the  latter  part  of  the  first  century,  St.  John 
alone  of  the  original  twelve  survived,  but  many  other 
Apostles,  Angels,  Bishops,  or  High  Priests  (as  they  were 
sometimes  called)  were  still  alive,  who  had  been  ordained 
by  him  or  his  peers.  There  was  St.  Clement,  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  the  "  fellow-laborer  "  of  St.  Paul,  who  had  been 
ordained  by  him  or  by  St.  Peter.  There  was  St.  Ignatius, 
that  glorious  Apostle,  who  had  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  be- 
loved John,  the  true  successor  of  St.  Peter  in  Antioch ; 
while  the  venerable  Polycarp,  the  friend  of  St.  John,  was 
still  ruling  his  diocese  in  the  spirit  of  his  master,  till  past 
the  middle  of  the  second  century.  These  are  the  earliest 
witnesses  to  the  antiquity  and  authority  of  Episcopacy. 
They  bridge  over  the  so-called  gap  between  the  Church  of 
the  New  Testament  and  the  Church  of  the  second  century. 
Let  us  hear  their  testimony. 

St.  Clement,  the  companion  of  St.  Paul,  the  Bishop  of 
"  the  Church  sojourning  at  Rome,"  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Church  at  Corinth,  not  later  than  a.  d.  97.  In  it  he 
clearly  teaches  that  there  are  "  diverse  orders  in  the 
Church,"  which  he  likens  to  the  ranks  of  officers  in  the 
Roman  army.  "  All,"  says  he,  "  are  not  generals,  nor 
commanders   of  a  thousand,  nor   of  a  hundred,  nor  of 


he  wrote  his  last  Epistles,  A.  D.  66  and  67.  If  he  was  ever  at  Rome  at  all,  which 
we  hold  to  be  almost  certain,  from  the  unanimity  of  the  tradition,  it  could  only 
have  been  very  briefly  before  his  martyrdom.  Aud  this  is,  in  fact,  the  assertion 
of  Lactantius  (about  A.  D.  330),  who  says  that  he  first  came  to  Rome  in  Nero's 
reign ;  and  of  Origen  (about  A.  D.  254),  who  says  that  he  arrived  there  at  the  close 
of  his  life;  and  of  the  Praedictio  Petri,  printed  with  the  works  of  St.  Cyprian. 
His  '  Bishopric '  at  Rome  probably  consisted  only  in  his  efforts,  about  the  time  of 
his  martyrdom,  to  strengthen  the  faith  of  the  Church  and  especially  of  the  Jew- 
ish Christians."  {Early  Days  of  ClirUtianity,  i.,  117.)  See  also  the  "The  Pet- 
rine  Claims  at  the  Bar  of  History." — Church  Quarterly  Review.,  April,  1879. 


78  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHJIAN. 


fi%."^-  Speaking  of  the  duties  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  he- 
uses  language  which  shows  that  the  Christian  Ministry 
was  threefold :  "  His  own  peculiar  services  are  assigned  to 
the  High  Priest,  and  their  own  proper  place  is  prescribed 
to  the  Priests,  and  their  own  special  ministrations  devolve 
on  the  Levite;  while  the  layman  is  bound  by  the  laws 
which  pertain  to  laymen. "^^  jjg  qI^q  gg^yg  .  <«xhe  Apostles 
knew  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  contentions 
would  arise  about  the  office  of  the  Episcopate ;  and  for 
this  reason,  being  endued  with  perfect  foreknowledge,  they 
appointed  those  already  mentioned,  and  handed  down  a  suc- 
cession, so  that  when  they  should  depart,  other  approved 
men  should  take  their  office  and  ministry."^'* 

Our  next  witness  is  St.  Polycarp,  that  grand  old  Bishop 
and  Martyr.  Born  while  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter  were  still 
alive,  he  was  for  more  than  thirty  years  contemporary 
with  his  master,  St.  John,  and  survived  him  by  half  a 
century,  having,  as  he  told  the  Roman  Governor,  served 
Christ  *'  eighty  and  six  years."  He  is  portrayed  to  us  by 
his  pupil,  St.  Irenseus,  the  Bishop  of  Lyons,  in  a  passage 
of  charming  simplicity  but  tantalizing  brevity  :  "  I  could 
describe  the  very  place  in  which  the  blessed  Polycarp  sat 
and  taught ;  his  going  out  and  his  coming  in  ;  the  whole 
tenor  of  his  life  ;  his  personal  appearance  ;  how  he  would 
tell  of  conversations  he  had  held  with  John  and  with 
others  who  had  seen  the  Lord  ;  how  he  would  make  men- 


12.  Chap.  37. 

13.  Chap.  40.  In  like  manner,  says  St.  Jerome  (in  his  Epist.  ad  Ev.),  "What 
Aaron  and  his  sons  and  the  Levites  Ithree  orders']  were  in  the  Temple,  that  let 
the  Bishops,  and  Presbyters,  and  Deacons,  claim  to  be  in  the  Church." 

14.  Chap.  44. 


AUTHORITY.  l!> 


tion  of  their  words,  and  of  whatever  he  had  heard  from 
them  respecting  the  Lord."^^ 

Again  Irenseus  says  of  him  :  "  Polycarp  also  was  not 
only  instructed  by  the  Apostles,  and  conversed  with  many 
who  had  seen  Christ,  but  was  also  by  Apostles  in  Asia,  or- 
dained Bishop  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna,  whom  I  also  saw  in 
my  early  youth,  having  always  taught  the  things  which 
he  had  learned  from  the  Apostles,  and  which  the  Church  has 
handed  down,  and  which  alone  are  true."^^ 

A  single  Epistle  of  St.  Polycarp  has  come  down  to  us 
of  the  genuineness  of  which  there  can  be  no  doubt.  It  is 
written  as  by  a  Bishop,  surrounded  by  his  "  Corona  Pres- 
byterorum."  "  Polycarp  and  the  Presbyters  with  him  to 
the  Church  of  God  sojourning  at  Phillippi."  The  Epistle 
is  beautiful  and  breathes  the  spirit  of  a  St.  John.  Its 
chief  evidential  value,  however,  as  to  the  Episcopate,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  this  holy  and  apostolic  man  sets 
the  seal  of  approval  to  the  teachings  of  St.  Ignatius,  that 
devout  and  stalwart  Episcopalian,  the  Bishop  of  Antioch. 
"  The  Epistles  of  Ignatius,"  says  he,  "  written  by  him  to 
us,  and  all  the  rest  of  his  Epistles  which  we  have  by  us, 
we  have  sent  to  you  as  you  requested.  By  them  ye  may 
be  greatly  profited  ;  for  they  treat  of  faith  and  patience,  and 
all  things  that  tend  to  edification  in  the  Lord.^^  Let  us  appeal 
then  to  St.  Ignatius. 

He  was  born  about  a.  d.  30.  Tradition  has  assigned 
him  the  honor  of  being  the  "little  child"  whom  Jesus 
placed  in  the  midst  of  the  Apostles.^'^  He  succeeded  St. 


15.   From  the  De  Ogdoade  of  IreniBus.      16.   Adv.  Her.,  iii.,  3,  4.     17.   St. 
Matt,  xviii.,  2. 


80  REASOIfS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Peter  as  Bishop  of  Antioch/^  the  capital  of  Syria,  and  so 
he  alludes  to  himself  not  only  as  the  Bishop  of  Antioch, 
hut  as  "the  Bishop  of  Syria."  A  vivid  account  of  his 
martyrdom  (written  probably  about  a.  d.  110),  says  that 
in  the  year  a.  d.  98,  "  Ignatius,  the  Disciple  of  John  the 
Apostle,  a  man  in  all  respects  of  an  Apostolic  character, 
governed  the  Church  of  the  Antiochians,"  and  that  he  had 
done  so  for  many  years.  The  story  of  his  bold  confession 
before  the  Emperor  Trajan,  in  Antioch,  a.  d.  107,  his 
arrest,  his  journey  (like  St.  Paul's)  to  Rome,  and  his 
glorious  martyrdom  in  that  city,  which  is  "  drunken  with 
blood  of  martyrs,"  is  familiar  to  all.  On  that  memorable 
journey  he  was  permitted  to  tarry  quite  a  while  at  Smyrna, 
of  which  the  venerable  Polycarp  was  the  Bishop,  and 
whither  the  Bishops  of  Ephesus,  Magnesia,  and  Tralles, 
accompanied  each  by  several  Priests  and  Deacons,  came  to 
comfort  him,  or  rather  be  comforted  by  him,  and  to  re- 
ceive the  Martyr's  benediction.  While  in  Smyrna  he 
wrote  four  letters  ;  to  the  Ephesians,  the  Magnesians,  the 
Traillians,  and  the  Romans.  Also  at  Troas,  where  he  was 
detained  a  few  days,  he  wrote  three  letters  ;  to  the  Phila- 
delphians,  to  the  Smyrnaeans,  and  to  Polycarp,  their 
Bishop.  There  are  eight  other  letters  extant,  purporting 
to  have  been  written  by  St.  Ignatius,  but  as  their  authen- 
ticity is  doubtful,  I  pass  them  by.  But  these  seven  genu- 
ine letters  of  the  Apostolic  Bishop,  Saint  and  Martyr — 
every  one  ought  to  read.  And  I  leave  it  to  any  candid 
reader   whether   such   letters   could   possibly   have   been 


18.  He  is  quoted  from  and  mentioned  -witli  approval  by  Justin  Martyr,  Iren- 
seus,  and  Origen  (who  styles  him  "Ignatius,  the  second  Bishop  of  Antioch,  com- 
ing after  Peter") ;  by  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  Theodoret,  Gelasius,  etc. 


AUTHORITY.  81 


written  to  leading  Churches  in  the  east  and  as  far  west  as 
Rome,  unless  Episcopacy  had  been  the  universal  polity  of 
the  Church,  and  believed  by  such  competent  witnesses  as 
these  personal  friends  of  St.  John,  to  be  primitive,  God- 
given  and  necessary.  Notice,  then,  a  number  of  extracts 
which  I  have  collected  from  the  short  and  uncorrupted 
form  of  the  Epistles,  which  even  the  most  critical  scholars 
allow  to  be  genuine  and  authentic. 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  he  speaks  of  having 
seen  their  "  Bishop,  Onesimus,"  and  blesses  God  for  hav- 
ing granted  them  "such  an  excellent  Bishop."^^  He  men- 
tions also  one  of  their  Deacons  and  several  Presbyters,  and 
exhorts  them,  saying  :  "  Be  ye  subject  to  the  Bishop  and 
the  Presbytery "  [i.  e.,  the  whole  body  of  the  Presby- 
ters].^*^ He  lays  great  stress  upon  the  universality  of  the 
Episcopate  :  "  For  even  Jesus  Christ,  our  inseparable  Life, 
is  the  manifest  Will  of  the  Father  ;  as  also  Bishops,  to  the 
uttermost  bounds  of  the  earth,  are  so  by  the  will  of  Jesus 
Christ. "21  "Wherefore,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "it  is  fitting 
that  ye  should  run  together  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
your  Bishop,  which  thing  also  ye  do;  for  your  justly  re- 
nowned Presbytery,  worthy  of  God,  is  fitted  as  exactly  to  the 
Bishop  as  are  the  strings  to  the  harp.''^'^  What  a  diocese  that 
must  have  been  !  "  Let  us,  then,"  he  continued,  "  be 
careful  not  to  set  ourselves  in  opposition  to  the  Bishop.  "^^ 
"  For  we  ought  to  receive  every  one  whom  the  Master  of  the 
House  sends  to  be  over  his  Household,  as  we  would  receive 
Him  that  sent  Him.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  we  should 
look  upon  the  Bishop,  even  as  the  Lord  Himself;^  and 

19.  Chap.  1.    20.  Chap.  2.    21.  Chap.  3.    22.  Chap.  4.    23.  Chap.  5. 
24.    Cf.  our  Lord's  words  to  the  Apostles:  "He  that  receiveth  yon  receiveth 
Mb,"  St.  Matt.,  x.,  40,  and  St.  John,  xiii.,  20. 


82  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

indeed  Onesimus  himself  greatly  commends  your  good 
order  in  God,  and  that  ye  all  live  according  to  the  truth, 
and  that  no  sect  has  any  dwelling  place  among  you."^^ 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Magnesians,  he  says  :  "  I  have  had 
the  privilege  of  seeing  you  through  Damas,  your  most 
worthy  Bishop,  and  through  your  worthy  Presbyters,  Bas- 
sus  and  Apollonius,  and  through  my  fellow-servant,  the 
Deacon  Sotio,  whose  friendship  may  I  ever  enjoy,  inas- 
much as  he  is  subject  to  the  Bishop  as  to  the  grace  of  God, 
and  to  the  Presbytery  as  to  the  law  of  Jesus  Christ."  ^^  The 
Bishop  of  the  Magnesians,  although  a  young  man,  was,  by 
virtue  of  his  Episcopal  Office,  exalted  above  all  the  rest, 
whether  clergy  or  laity,  and  just  as  St.  Paul  had  written 
to  the  young  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  some  fifty  years  before, 
"  Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth,"  so  now  Ignatius  writes 
to  the  Christians  in  Magnesia  :  "  It  becomes  you  also  not 
to  treat  your  Bishop  too  familiarly  on  account  of  his 
youth,  but  to  yield  him  all  reverence,  having  respect  to  the 
Power  of  God  the  Father^  as  I  have  known  even  holy  Presbyters 
do,  not  judging  rashly  from  the  youthful  appearance  of 
THEIR  Bishop. "2''  A  Bishop,  then,  though  a  young  man, 
is  enlitled  to  the  homage  of  his  Presbyters,  though  "  holy  " 
and  venerable.  And  this  is  the  teaching  of  a  saint  who 
was  living  while  our  Saviour  was  still  on  earth,  the  com- 
panion of  St.  John,  and  for  more  than  forty  years  the 
Bishop  of  the  city  where  the  disciples  were  first  called 
Christians.  Again  he  says  :  "  Let  nothing  exist  among 
you  that  may  divide  you ;  but  be  ye  united  with  your 
Bishop,  and  them  that  preside  over  you."^  "  Neither  do 
anything  without  the  Bishop  and  Presbyters. "29    "Your 

25.  Chap.  6.    26.  Chap.  2.    27.  Chap.  3.    Of.  I.  Tim.,  iv.,  12.    28.  Chap.  6. 
29.  Chap.  7. 


AUTHORITY.  83 


most  admirable  Bishop,  the  well-compacted  spiritual  crown 
of  your  Presbytery,  and  the  Deacons  who  are  according  to 
God." ^  [Various  persons]  'salute  you,  along  with  Poly- 
carp,  the  Bishop  of  the  Smyrnaeans."^^ 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Trallians,  whom  he  says  he  salutes 
"  in  the  Apostolic  character,"  he  speaks  of  "  Polybius,  your 
Bishop  who  has  come  to  Smyrna." ^^  "Let  all  reverence 
the  Deacons  as  the  appointment  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
Bishops  as  Jesus  Christ,  Who  is  the  Son  of  the  Father,  and 
the  Presbyters  as  the  Sanhedrim  of  God  and  assembly  of  the 
Apostles.  Apart  from  these  there  is  no  Church."^  Nor 
was  there  any  thing  new  or  startling  to  those  early  Chris- 
tians in  this  statement,  for  he  immediately  adds  :  "Concern- 
ing all  this,  I  am  persuaded  that  ye  are  of  the  same  opinion." 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  he  says  :  "  God  has 
deemed  me,  the  Bishop  of  Syria,  worthy  to  be  sent,"  etc.** 
"  Remember  in  your  prayers  the  Church  in  Syria,  which 
now  has  God  for  its  Shepherd  instead  of  me.  Jesus  Christ  alone 
will  oversee  it."^^  Strange  words  for  Ignatius  to  have  used 
if  he  were  only  one  among  the  many  equal  (!)  Presbyters 
in  the  great  metropolis  of  Antioch,  with  its  two  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  fact  is,  no  one  but  one  who  is, 
at  least  in  theory,  an  Episcopalian,  can  read  the  letters  of 
Ignatius  without  either  becoming  a  Churchman  or  else 
bidding  farewell  to  reason,  logic,  and  common  sense.^^ 

In  his  letter  to  the  Philadelphians  he  speaks  of  them  as 

30.  Chap.  13.    31.  Chap.  15.    33.  Chap.  1.    33.  Chap.  3.    34.  Chap.  2.   35.  Chap.  9. 

36.  If  any  one  doubts  this,  let  him  see  how  Dr.  Miller,  the  champion  of 
Presbylerianism,  undertook  to  find  Presbyterianism  in  St.  Ignatius  ( 1 ).  In  all 
the  world  of  controversy,  religious,  political,  philosophical,  scientific,  literary. 
Dr.  Miller's  exploit  with  Ignatius  is  unparalleled  for  sophistry,  audacity,  and 
unconscious  suicide.  I  advise  every  reader  to  get  a  copy  of  Mine's  "  Presbyterian 
Clergyman  Looking  for  the  Church"  ;Dutton,  N.  T.),  and  read  chapter  xsiii.. 


84  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

"  in  unity  with  the  Bishop,  the  Presbyters  and  the  Deacons, 
who  have  been  appointed  according  to  the  mind  of  Jesus 
Christ."^'''  "  If  any  man  follows  him  that  makes  a  schism 
in  the  Church,  he  shall  not  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  God."  ^8 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Smyrn^ans  he  says  :  "  See  that  ye 
follow  the  Bishop  even  as  Jesus  Christ  does  the  Father, 
and  the  Presbytery  as  ye  would  the  Apostles,  and  the  Dea- 
cons as  being  the  institution  of  God.  Let  no  man  do  any 
thing  connected  with  the  Church  without  the  Bishop. 
Let  that  be  deemed  a  proper  Eucharist  which  is  adminis- 
tered either  by  the  Bishop  or  by  one  to  whom  he  has 
entrusted  it.  Wherever  the  Bishop  shall  appear,  there  let 
the  multitude  also  be  ;  even  as  wherever  Jesus  Christ  is, 
there  is  the  Catholic  Church.  It  is  not  lawful  without  the 
Bishop  [i.  e.,  without  his  authority]  either  to  baptize  or 
to  celebrate  the  Holy  Communion  *  *  *  so  that  every 
thing  that  is  done  may  be  secure  and  valid." ^9  "it  is 
well  to  reverence  both  God  and  the  Bishop."  ^^ 

In  his  Epistle  entitled  "  Ignatius,  who  is  called  Theopho- 
ros,  to  Poly  carp,  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  the  Smj^^rnseans," 
he  bids  his  Episcopal  brother;  "  Let  nothing  be  done  with- 
out thy  consent."'*^  "My  soul  be  for  theirs  who  are  sub- 
missive to  the  Bishop,  to  the  Presbyters  and  to  the  Deacons; 
and  may  my  portion  be  along  with  them  in  God."^ 

So  much,  then,  for  the  testimony  of  the  Apostolic  Bish- 
op of  Antioch,  which  comes  to  us  ratified  and  endorsed  by 
the  Angel  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna. 

especially  pp.  454  to  465,  on  "Dr.  Miller's  extracts  from  Ignatius,  something 
odd."  That  chapter  alone  is  worth  ten  times  the  price  of  the  book.  See  also  Dr. 
Bowden's  patient  and  exhaustive  reply  to  Dr.  Miller :  "  The  Apos.  Orig.  of  Epis." 
Hall's  "Epis.  and  the  Pap.  Suprem,"  and  "Kip's  Double  Witness,"  pp.  70  to  71. 

37.  In  the  dedication. 

38.  Chap.  3.    39.  Chap.  8.    40.  Chap.  9.    41.  Chap.  4.    42.  Chap.  6. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    WITNESS    OF    THE    FATHERS — CONTINUED. 

"And  drink  the  untainted  fount  of  pure  antiquity." 

— Lyra  ApostoUca,  p.  154. 

"  If  I  might  leave  one  request  to  the  rising  generation  of  clergy  *  *  *  it 
would  be,  In  addition  to  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture,  which  they  too  studied 
night  and  day,  Study  the  Fathers."— Dr.  Pusey. 

TT  should  never  be  forgotten  that  Gibbon,  the  keen  skep- 
J[  tical  historian  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  although  he  ignores  the  spiritual  authority  which 
the  Bishops  deiived  from  the  Apostles,  nevertheless  freely 
admits  (for  he  could  not  deny  it)  that  "  the  Episcopal  form 
of  government  [by  which  he  meant  organized  Diocesan 
Episcopacy]  appears  to  have  been  introduced  before  the 
close  of  the  first  century  ;  "  that  its  "  advantages  "  were  "  obvi- 
ous and  important ;  "  that  it  "  had  acquired  at  a  very  early 
'period  the  sanction  of  antiquity ;^^  that  "'Bishops,  under 
the  name  of  Angels,  were  already  [i.  e.,  before  the  end  of 
the  first  century]  instituted  in  the  seven  cities  of  Asia  ; " 
and  that  *'  ''Nulla  Ecclesia  sine  Episcopo ' — no  Church  with- 
out a  Bishop — has  been  a  fact  as  well  as  a  maxim,  since 
the  time  of  Tertullian  and  Irenseus."    Gibbon  moreover 


86  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

declares  that  "after  we  have  passed  the  difficulties  of  the 
first  century^  we  find  the  Episcopal  form  of  government  univer- 
sally established,  until  it  was  interrupted  by  the  republican 
genius  of  the  Swiss  and  German  reformers."^ 

The  learned  French  Protestant,  Guizot,  says :  "  The 
Apostles  themselves  appointed  several  Bishops.  TertuUian, 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  many  fathers  of  the  second 
and  third  century  do  not  permit  us  to  doubt  this  fact." 

The  "  Learned  Grotius,"^  himself  a  Presbyterian,  through 
force  of  circumstances,  was  candid  enough  to  give  up  the 
attempt  to  invalidate  Episcopacy.  Like  many  of  the  con- 
tinental reformers,  he  regretted  that  the  Church  of  Holland 
had  lost  the  Apostolic  Ministry.  He  was  as  familiar  with 
the  Fathers  as  most  Protestants  are  ignorant  of  them  ;  and 
this  is  what  he  says  of  their  evidence  for  Episcopacy  :  "  To 
reject  the  supremacy  of  one  pastor  above  the  rest  is  to 
condemn  the  whole  ancient  Church  of  folly  or  even  of 
impiety."  "The  Episcopacy  had  its  commencement  in 
the  times  of  the  Apostles.  All  the  fathers,  loithout  exception, 
testify  to  this.  Tlie  testimony  of  Jerome  ^  alone  is  sufficient. 
The  catalogues  of  the  Bishops,  in  Irenseus,  Socrates,  Theo- 

1.  I.  e.,  before  the  death  of  St.  John.  And  what  after  all  are  these  "diffi- 
culties of  the  first  century"  ?  Why,  as  I  have  shown,  the  gradual  transition 
from  the  general  Mission^iry  Episcopate  of  the  Apostles  to  the  local  jurisdiction 
of  their  successors,  together  with  the  gradual  change  of  name,  which  I  trust  was 
made  clear  in  Chapter  IX.  But  call  these  natural  processes  "  the  difficulties  of 
the  first  century,"  if  you  please;  they  are  a  thousand  times  less  than  our  P;ipal 
and  Presbyterial  brethren  have  to  encounter,  when  they  try  to  fit  their  respective 
systems  on  the  Early  Church. 

2.  These  quotations  from  Gibbon  are  all  taken  from  the  Dec.  and  Fall,  chap. 
XV.,  and  from  his  notes  on  that  chap.,  110,  111,  112. 

3.  A.  D.  1583  to  1G45. 

4.  Jerome  1  And  yet  he  is  the  one  whom  Dr.  Miller  and  others,  by  bold 
misquotations  from  his  Epistle  to  Evagrius,  v.-ould  metamorphose  into  a  Presby- 
terian. Can  it  be  that  such  have  ever  read  that  Epistle  ?  We  will  have  a  taste 
of  it  ere  long. 


AUTHORITY.  87 


doret,  and  others,  all  of  which  begin  in  the  Apostolic  age, 
testify  to  this.  To  refuse  credit  in  a  historical  matter,  to 
BO  great  authorities,  and  so  unanimous  among  themselves,  is 
not  the  part  of  any  but  an  irreverent  and  stubborn  dispo- 
sition. What  the  whole  Church  maintains,  and  was  not 
instituted  by  Councils,  but  was  always  held,  is  not  with  any 
good  reason  believed  to  be  handed  down  by  any  but  Apos- 
tolic Authority."  5 

Not  one  bona  fide  quotation  can  be  adduced  from  any 
Father  or  Council  of  the  Early  Church  which  makes 
against  Episcopacy.  We  Churchmen  do  not  begin  to  realize 
the  strength  of  our  position.  Some  of  us  are  frightened  by 
the  timid  and  treacherous  utterances  of  our  own  sick  and 
disloyal  comrades ;  or  are  for  yielding  up  the  Citadel  of 
God,  whose  walls  can  stand  the  artillery  of  hell,  because, 
forsooth,  the  sham  batteries  of  a  Dr.  Miller,  or  the  spiked 
guns  of  some  roving  Monsignor  are  directed  against  us. 
It  does  us  good,  once  in  a  while,  to  "  walk  about  Zion,  and 
go  round  about  her,  and  tell  the  towers  thereof,  and  mark 
well  her  bulwarks."  We  shall  at  least  be  able  to  show 
our  wandering  brothers  that  we  have  better  reasons  for 
staying  in  the  dear  old  homestead  than  they  ever  had  for 
leaving  it.  There  is  to-day  a  widespread  feeling  among 
thoughtful  Dissenters  which  is  often  expressed  in  some 
such  way  as  this  :  "  Churchmen,  after  all,  are  no  fools  !  " 

For  some  strange  reason,  Apostolic  Succession  is  a 
stumbling-block  to  many.  And  yet  Apostolic  Succession 
rests  on  a  stronger  historical  basis  than  the  Canon  of  Holy 

5.  For  Grotins'  testimony  in  full,  see  his  Annotations  on  the  Consultations 
of  Cassander,  his  comments  on  Acts,  xiv.,  and  Testimonies  concerning  him 
appended  to  his  De  Veritate  Religionis  ChristianoB. 


88  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Scripture  itself.  During  the  first  thousand  years  of  the 
Christian  era,  there  were  several  instances  of  Churches 
which,  though  they  had  the  Creed,  had  never  seen  a  com- 
plete copy  of  the  New  Testament ;  but  all  the  while  not 
one  single  instance  of  a  Church  without  Bishops,  Priests, 
and  Deacons.  If  any  one  doubts  this,  let  him  try  for  him- 
self to  answer  this,  as  yet  unanswered,  challenge  which  the 
"Judicious  Hooker"  made  in  the  year  1594,  to  those  who 
had  set  up  a  non-Episcopal  Ministry  :  "  A  very  strange 
thing  sure  it  were,  that  such  a  discipline  as  ye  speak  of 
should  be  taught  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles  in  the  word 
of  God,  and  no  Church  ever  have  found  it  out,  nor  re- 
ceived it  till  this  present  time.  *  *  *  >Pg  require  you 
to  find  out  but  one  Church  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earthy  that 
hath  been  ordered  by  your  discipline  or  hath  not  been  ordered  by 
ours,  that  is  to  say,  by  Episcopal  regimen,  since  the  time  that  ike 
blessed  Apostles  were  here  conversant.''^ ^ 

6.  Pref.  to  Eccl.  Pal.,  §  4.  Of.  also  the  challenge  of  Bishop  Jewell,  first 
made  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  Nov.  26, 1559;  repeated  March  31,1560.  "If  any  learned 
men  of  all  our  adversaries,  or  if  all  the  learned  men  that  be  alive,  be  able  to  bring 
any  one  sufficient  sentence  out  of  any  old  Catholic  Doctor  or  Father,  or  out  of 
any  old  General  Council,  or  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  God,  or  any  example 
of  the  Primitive  Church,  whereby  it  may  be  clearly  and  plainly  proved;  *  *  * 
that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  then  called  an  Universal  Bishop,  or  Head  of  the 
Universal  Church;  *  *  *  I  promised  then  that  I  would  give  over  and  sub- 
scribe unto  him."  (Bp.  Jewell's  Works,  I,  p.  20,  Ed.  Parker  Soc),  quoted  in  Dr. 
Huntington's  admirable  little  book,  "The  Ch.  Idea,"  p.  71.  I  cannot  forbear  to 
quote  here  the  strong  language  of  Mines  (Pres.  Clerg.,  p.  341):  "Episcopacy 
existed  wherever  the  Church  existed,  and  the  world  has  again  and  again  been 
challenged  to  produce  one  single  Church  in  all  Europe,  Africa,  or  Asia,  which  in 
the  first,  the  second,  the  third,  the  fourth,  the  fifth,  or  the  sixth  century,  was  for 
one  moment  Presbyterian.  When  Presbyterians  demand  of  Episcopalians  a 
chain  of  Bishops  from  [to-day]  back  to  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  Episcopalians 
produce  it — link  after  link,  name  after  name — back  to  the  hands  of  St.  Thomas  in 
Syria,  St.  John  in  Ephesus,  St.  James  in  Jerusalem,  St.  Mark  in  Alexandria,  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  Rome.  But  when  Episcopalians  ask  Presbyterians  to  pro- 
duce, not  a  succession  of  Churches  reaching  beyond  Luther  and  Calvin  and  a 


AUTHORITY.  89 


I  shall  now  give  a  few  extracts  from  the  early  Fathers, 
which  will  corroborate  what  we  have  already  learned  from 
the  Bible,  and  from  SS.  Clement,  Poly  carp  and  Ignatius. 

The  unknown  author  of  that  beautiful  treatise,  the 
*'  Epistle  to  Diognetus  "  (about  a.  d,  130),  who  calls  him- 
self a  "  Disciple  of  the  Apostles,''  says  :  "  The  tradition  of 
the  Apostles  is  preserved,""  which  he  could  not  have  said, 
had  the  then  universal  Episcopacy  of  the  Church  been 
contrary  to  their  teaching.  Hegesippus,  who  was  born 
about  A.  D.  100 —  Viciiius  Apostolorum  temporum,  as  St. 
Jerome  calls  him^ — wrote  a  Church  History,  which  was 
familiar  to  Eusebius  and  St  Jerome,  but  which  has  since 
been  lost.  He  traveled  over  a  large  part  of  the  known 
world  for  the  express  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  teaching 
and  practice  of  the  Apostles,  as  retained  in  the  Churches 
which  they  founded.  Eusebius  has  preserved  a  few  frag- 
ments of  his  writings,^  in  which  "  he  declares  of  himself, 
that  as  he  had  made  it  his  business  to  visit  the  Bishops  of 
the  Church,  so  he  had  found  theui  all  unanimous  in  their 
doctrines  ;  and  that  the  same  books  of  the  Law,  the  same 
Gospel  and  Faith  *  *  *  had  been  constantly  pre- 
served along  with  the  Succession  of  the  Bishops  in  all  the 
Churches.''''  Moreover  he  says  :  "  The  first  heretic  was  The- 
busis,  who  was  disappointed  in  his  expectations  of  a 
Bishopric." 

gulf  of  a  thousand  years,  but  one  poor,  single,  solitary  Church,  in  a  world  full  of 
Churches,  that  in  the  first,  or  the  second,  or  the  third,  or  the  fourth,  or  the  fifth 
century,  was  bona  fide  Presbyterian  ,*  they  return  the  writ  with  non  est  iJiven  us; 
it  cannot  be  found."  [The  futile  attempts  to  find  it  among  the  Chuldees  are  well 
known.] 

7.  Chap.  10. 

8.  De  Scrip.,  c.  33,  "Near  the  time  of  the  Apostles." 

9.  Euseb.  Eel.  Hist.,  IV.,  23,  as  quoted  by  Bowden,  Letter  Vll. 


90  REASOJS'S  FOE  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Dioiiysius,  the  wise  and  holy  Bishop  of  Corinth,  who 
lived  to  A.  D.  176,  wrote  a  number  of  letters,  fragments 
of  which  are  preserved  by  Eusebius^^ — one  to  the  Athe- 
nians, in  which  he  speaks  of  the  martyrdom  of  their 
Bishop,  Publius  (early  in  the  century),  and  mentions  his 
successor,  Quadratus  ;^^  one  to  the  Churches  in  Crete,  in 
which  he  praises  Philip,  their  Bishop  ;  one  to  the  Churches 
in  Pontus,  in  which  he  mentions  Palma,  their  Bishop ; 
one  to  Pinytus,  the  Bishop  of  the  Gnosians,  in  which  he 
urges  him  not  to  enforce  celibacy  upon  his  clergy, — to 
which  the  ascetic  Bishop  replied,  attempting  to  justify 
his  course. ^^  All  of  which  shows,  as  indeed  do  all  inci- 
dents and  allusions  in  the  literature  of  the  Early  Church, 
that  the  Episcopal  polity  prevailed.  He  also  wrote  a  letter 
to  Soter,  the  Bishop  of  the  Church  in  Rome. 

St.  Irenseus  (a.  d.  120  to  202)  had  been  a  disciple  of 
St.  Polycarp.  Leaving  the  East  he  accompanied  Pothinus, 
a  companion  and  equal  of  St.  Polycarj>,  on  a  mission  to 
Gaul,  and  settled  in  the  city  of  Lyons.  Pothinus  was  a 
BishoiD,  ordained  by  St.  John  or  by  one  whom  St.  John 
had  ordained — which  is  of  interest  to  us,  as  it  is  generally 
supposed  that  the  old  British  Church  derived  its  Orders, 
in  part  at  least,  from  this  source  ;  and  at  all  events  a  suc- 
cessor^-'^ of  Pothinus  in  the  See  of  Lyons  was  one  of  the 

10.  Id. 

11.  This  Quadratus,  the  second  or  third  Bp.  of  Athens,  A.  D.  120,  "was," 
says  Dr.  Mahan  (Ch.  Llist.,  p.  114),  "a  disciple  of  the  Apostles,  many  of  whose 
miracles  he  had  seen  with  his  own  eyes.  *  *  *  Becoming  Bishop  of  Athens, 
he  labored  with  great  success  in  re-establishing  the  Church  which  in  that  part  of 
Greece  had  fallen  into  decay."  He  also  wrote  a  calm  and  able  defence  of  Chris- 
tianity, which  he  presented  to  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  who  reigned  from  A.  D. 
]17tol38. 

13.    See  again  Bowden's  seventh  letter. 

13.  Viz:  Etherius,  thirty-first  Bishop  of  Lyons,  who,  with  Virgilius,  Bishop 
•of  Aries,  ordained  Augustine. 


AUTHORITY.  91 


<jonsecrator8  of  Augustine,  the  first  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. 

After  the  martyrdom  of  Pothinus  in  the  dreadful  Lyon- 
nese  persecution  of  a.  d.  177,  Irenseus,  who  was  the  lead- 
ing Presbyter  of  the  Gallic  Church,  was  made  Bishop  of 
Lyons,  and  seems  to  have  exercised  a  sort  of  Primacy 
■over  the  Churches  of  Gaul.^^  Himself  a  Bishop,  and  the 
pupil  of  a  Bishop  whom  St.  John  had  loved  and  ordained, 
he  was  certainly  in  a  position  to  know  the  polity  of  the 
«arly  Church.     Let  us  hear  him 

He  says  :  "  The  tradition  of  the  Apostles  is  manifest 
throughout  the  whole  world  ;  and  we  are  in  a  position  to 
reckon  up  those  who  were,  hy  the  Apostles^  ordained  Bishops 
in  the  Churches,  and  the  Succession  of  those  men  to  our  ovm  time. 
If  the  Apostles  had  known  hidden  mysteries,  they  would 
have  delivered  them,  especially  to  those  to  whom  they 
were  also  committing  the  Churches  themselves.  For  they 
were  desirous  that  those  men  should  be  very  perfect  and 
blameless  in  all  things,  whom  also  they  were  leaving  be- 
hind as  their  successors,  delivering  up  their  01  on  place  of  gov- 
■ernment  (magisterii)  to  these  rjien."^^ 

He  speaks  also  of  "those  to  whom  the  Apostles  did 
commit  the  Churches  ;  "^^  ^nd  again  :  "  The  Bishops  to 
whom  the  Apostles  did  commit  the  Churches."^'''  In  one 
place  he  calls  Bishops  "  Presbyters,"  but  he  distinguishes 
them  from  ordinary  Presbyters,  just  as  we  would  to-day, 
by  describing  them  as  Presbyters  who  have  the  Apostolic 
or  Episcopal  succession.  These  are  his  words  :  "  Obey  the 
Presbyters   who   are   in  the  Church,  those  who,  as  I  have 


14.  Eus.,  V.  23.   15.  Adv.  Haeres,  iii.,  chap.  3,  §1.  Iti.  iii.,  chap.  4,  §  1. 
17.  V,  chap.  20,  §  1. 


92  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCH3IAN. 

shown,  possess  the  Succession  from  the  Apostles,  those 
who,  together  with  the  Succession  of  the  Episcopate,  have  re- 
ceived the  certain  gift  of  truth,  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  the  Father.  But  [it  behooves  us]  to  hold  in 
suspicion  others  who  depart  from  the  primitive  Succession 
and  assemble  themselves  together  in  any  place  whatso- 
ever, either  as  heretics  of  perverse  minds  or  as  schis- 
matics."^^ 

Our  next  witness  is  Polycrates,  whose  testimony  is  thus 
summed  up  by  Dr.  Cutts  :^^  "  Polycrates,  Bishop  of  Ephe- 
sus,  writing  a.  d.  196,  says  that  at  that  time  he  himself 
had  been  sixty-five  years  a  Christian.  He  was,  therefore, 
born  about  thirty  years  after  the  death  of  St.  John,  and 

18.  iv.,  26,  §  2.  The  whole  passage  is  too  long  to  quote,  but  is  valuable  as 
showing  the  good  Bishop's  holy  horror  of  breaking  "the  Fellowship  of  the 
Apostles."  After  comparing  heretics  to  Nadab  and  Abihu  (Lev.,  x.,  1  and  2),  he 
likens  Dissenters  or  such  as  "exhort  others  against  the  Church  of  God,"  to 
Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram  (Num.,  xvi.,  1-33) ;  while  as  to  schismatics,  or 
"those  who  cleave  asunder  and  separate  the  unity  of  the  Church,"  he  likens 
them  to  Jeroboam  (I.  Kings,  xiv.,  10).  Irenceus  also  gives  what  he  calls  the 
"Successions  of  the  Bishops"  in  the  Church  at  Eome,  choosing  this  "very  an- 
cient and  universally  known  Church,"  because  "it  would  be  very  tedious  in 
such  a  volume  as  this  to  reckon  up  the  Successions  of  all  the  Churches."  The 
list  is  as  follows:  "The  blessed  Apostles  [SS.  Peter  and  Paul]  committed  into 
the  hands  of  Linus  the  Office  of  the  Episcopate.  Of  this  Linus,  St.  Paul  makes 
mention  in  his  Epistles  to  Timothy  [II.  Tim.,  iv.,  21] ;  to  him  succeeded  Anacle- 
tus ;  and  after  him  in  the  third  place  from  the  Apostles  [observe  the  plural. 
IreniEus  knew  nothing  of  St.  Peter's  having  any  exclusive  right  in  Eome]  Cle- 
ment was  allotted  the  Bishopric.  This  man,  as  he  had  seen  the  blessed  Apostles, 
and  had  been  conversant  with  them,  might  be  said  to  have  the  preaching  of  the 
Apostles  still  echoing  in  his  ears,  and  their  traditions  before  his  eyes.  Nor  was 
he  alone  in  this,  for  there  were  many  still  remaining  who  had  received  instruc- 
tions from  the  Apostles."  (And  here  I  must  putin  awordto  thoughtful  readers. 
Is  it  possible  that  these  early  Bishops  and  others  who  had  been  taught  by  the 
Apostles  would  have  maintained  Episcopacy,  unless  the  Apostles  had  so  taught 
them  ? —  sit  verbum  sat  sapienti.)  "  To  this  Clement  succeeded  Evaristus,"  and 
so  he  gives  the  names  down  to  Eleuthcrius,  who,  says  he,  "  does  now  in  the 
twelfth  place  from  the  Apostles  hold  the  inheritance  of  the  Episcopate-'''' 

19.  Turning  Points  in  Gen.  Ch.  Hist.,  p.  121. 


AUTHORITY.  93 


was  contemporary  with  Simeon  of  Jerusalem,  Ignatius, 
Polycarp,  and  others,  disciples  of  the  Apostles.  He,  writ- 
ing about  the  time  of  keeping  Easter,  appeals  to  the  tradi- 
tion of  former  Bishops  and  martyrs.  *  *  *  Among 
others,  he  mentions  Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna  and 
Martyr  ;  Thraseas,  Bishop  of  Eumenia  and  Martyr  ;  Saga- 
ris.  Bishop  of  Laodicea  and  Martj^r  ;  seven  Bishops  of  his 
own  kindred,  and  great  multitudes  of  Bishops  who  had 
assembled  with  him  to  consult  about  the  Easter  ques- 
tion." 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  during  the  Episcopate  of  Demet- 
rius (about  A.  D.  185),  likens  the  Orders  of  Bishop,  Priest, 
and  Deacon  to  the  ranks  of  the  blessed  Angels.  He  also 
says  there  are  many  rules,  some  of  which  relate  to  Presby- 
ters, others  to  Bishops,  and  others  to  Deacons.'^o  He 
alludes  to  St.  John's  ordaining  Bishops  in  various  cities 
of  Asia  f^  and  he  calls  Bishop  Clement  of  Rome  "  an 
Apostle." 

Tertullian,  a  Presbyter  of  the  Church  in  Carthage  (born 
A.  D.  135,  died  a.  d.  217),  uses  these  words  :  "  The  Chief 
or  Highest  Priest,  who  is  the  Bishop,  has  the  right  of  giving 
Baptism,  and  after  him  the  Presbyters  and  Deacons,  but 
not  without  the  Bishop's  authority." ^^  Speaking  of  the 
Churches  in  the  regions  where  St.  John  labored,  he  says  : 
"  The  Order  of  the  Bishops,  when  traced  up  to  its  original, 
will  be  found  to  have  John  for  its  author."^  The  heretics 
of  his  day  he  boldly  challenges  in  these  words  :  "  Let  them 

20.    Pedagogue,  rhap.  sii. 
■2\.    Quis  Div.  Salv.,  Chap.  42. 

22.  Quoted  by  Bowdcn,  Let.  vi. 

23.  "Ordo  tamen  Episcoporum  ad  originem  recensus,  in  Johanem  stabit 
auctorem,"  Adv.  Mar.,  IV.,  5. 


94  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

produce  the  original  of  their  Churches,  let  them  show  tJie 
Order  of  their  Bishops,  that  by  their  Succession  deduced  from 
the  beginning,  we  may  see  whether  their  first  Bishop  had 
any  of  the  Apostles  or  Apostolic  men,  who  did  likewise 
persevere  with  the  Apostles,  for  his  Ordainer  and  Prede- 
cessor !  For  thus  the  Apostolical  Churches  hand  down  their 
records  ;  as  the  Church  of  Smyrna  from  Polycarp,  whom 
John  the  Apostle  placed  there ;  the  Church  of  Rome  from 
Clement,  who  was  in  like  manner^  ordained  by  Peter;  and 
so  the  other  Churches  can  produce  those  constituted  in  the 
Bishoprics  by  the  Apostles,  and  so  regarded  as  transmitters  of  the 
Apostolic  seed.'''' ^  He  also  calls  a  Bishop's  seat  "  the  ^pos- 
tolic  Chair.''' 

The  profound  and  versatile  Origen,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  third  century  ,"6  also  bears  witness  to  the  divine  author- 
ity of  Episcopacy.  In  one  of  his  Lectures  be  asks  :  "  If 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  be  subject  to  Joseph  and 
Mary,  shall  not  I  be  subject  to  the  Bishop  who  is  ordained 
of  God  to  he  my  Father  ?  Shall  I  not  be  subject  to  the  Pres- 
byter who  by  divine  appointment  is  set  over  me?"~^ 
Speaking  of  the  duties  common  to  all  people,  he  adds  : 
"  Besides  these  general  debts,  there  is  a  debt  peculiar  to 
Deacons,  another  to  Presbyters,  and  another  to  Bishops, 
which  is  the  greatest  of  all,  and  exacted  by  the  Saviour,  of 
the  whole  Church,  who  will  severely  punish  the  non-pay- 
ment of  it."^^ 


24.  Tertullian,  by  the  way,  like  all  the  Early  Fathers,  knew  nothing  of  the 
BUhnp  nf  Rome  being  appointed  to  any  higher  or  different  office  than  the  rest  of 
the  Bishops. 

25.  De  Praescrip.  Haeret.,  c.  32.  27.    Quotedin  Bowden's  5th  Letter. 

26.  He  was  born  A.  D.  186.  28.    Quoted  by  Cutts,  p.  122. 


AUTHORITY.  95 

Time  would  fail  me  were  I  to  attempt  to  set  before  you 
the  testimony  of  Firmilian,  the  Bishop  of  Csesarea,  a.  d. 
233  ;  of  St.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  a.  d.  248,  that 
Saint,  Scholar,  Apostle  and  Martyr,  who,  if  not  the  first, 
was  at  least  the  deepest  and  clearest  expounder  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  Episcopate,  as  the  unifying  principle  of  the 
Church,  and  as  being  itself  an  Unity  ^^m  tvhich  all  Bishops 
throughout  the  wmid  do  equally  participate;^^  and  of  St. 
Ambrose,  St.  Jerome,^^  and  St.  Augustine,  and  especially 


29.    "Episcopatus  unus  est,  cujus  a  singulis  in  solidum  pars  tenetur."— Dc 
Unit,  Eccl. 

30.  St.  Cyprian,  writing  to  Cornelius,  the  Bishop  of  Kome,  says:  "This  is 
and  ought  to  be  our  chief  care  and  study,  that  we  maintain  the  unity  which  was 
delivered  by  our  Lord,  and  His  Apostles  to  us  their  Successors." 

31.  Although  St.  Jerome  again  and  again  asserts  the  universality  and  Apos- 
tolical authority  of  Episcopacy,  Presbyterians  lay  great  store  by  his  letter  to 
Evagriu*.  Yet  after  reading  it  with  care,  I  can  find  nothing  in  it  which  can  be 
used  against  Episcopacy.  He  was  writing  to  rebuke  a  certain  person  who  under- 
took to  rank  a  Deacon  above  a  Presbyter.  His  whole  argument  amounts  merely 
to  this:  That  in  the  New  Testament  (as  we  have  seen)  the  terms  Bishop  and. 
Presbyter  are  used  interchangeably,  and  that  the  Apostles  sometimes  call  them- 
selves Presbyters  (which  of  course  proves  nothing,  as  they  also  call  themselves- 
Deacons).  He  asserts  that  the  elevation  of  one  Presbyter  above  another  was  a 
"remedy  against  schism,"  but  he  tells  us  elsewhere  that  it  was  done  by  the 
authority  of  the  Apostles,  and  as  early  as  A.  D.  57.  He  does  not  say,  as  some 
Presbyterians  claim,  that  in  Alexandria  the  Presbyters  ordain  one  of  their  num- 
ber to  be  their  Bishop,  but  that  they  only  nominate  him  ("Nominabant")— quite  a 
different  thing.  Finally,  it  is  in  this  very  letter  which  Presbyterians  quote  cer- 
tain passages  from,  that  St.  Jerome  lays  down  the  real  distinction  between  a 
Bishop  and  a  Presbyter  in  a  way  which  neither  Presbyterians  nor  Roman  Cath- 
olics can  endure:  it  is  the  exact  theory  of  the  Greek  and  Anglo-Catholics: 
"What  doth  a  Bishop  do,  which  a  Presbyter  may  not  do,  Ordixation  excepted  ?" 
Then  he  proceeds:  "Wherever  there  is  a  Bishop,  whether  at  Rome  or  at 
Eugiibium  [which  was  a  very  insignificant  diocese],  whether  at  Constantinople 
or  Rhegium,  whether  at  Alexandria  or  Tanis,  he  is  of  the  same  validity,  and  of 
the  same  Priesthood.  Neither  the  power  of  wealth  nor  the  weakness  of  poverty 
can  make  a  Bishop  more  exalted  or  more  depressed;  but  they  are  all  Succes- 
sors OP  THE  Apostles.  *  *  *  That  which  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  the  Le- 
vites  were,  in  the  Temple,  that  let  the  Bishops  and  Presbyters  and  Deacons 
claim  to  he  in  the  Church.'''  Surely  if  our  Presbyterian  brethren  can  find  any 
"crumbs  of  comfort"  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jerome  to  Evagrius,  they  are  most 
welcome  to  them.  Such  as  they  be,  they  are  the  largest  crumbs  of  the  sort  that 
fall  from  the  Patristic  board. 


REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


the  testimony  of  Eusebius,^^  who,  by  order  of  the  Emj.<;ror, 
had  all  the  records  of  the  Empire  put  at  his  disposal  for 
the  great  task  of  writing  a  history  of  the  first  three  cen- 
turies of  the  Church. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  early  Patristic  evi- 
dence for  the  Catholic  Episcopate.  There  is  nothing  to 
offset  it.     It  cannot  be  gainsaid  nor  denied. 

I  cannot  leave  this  branch  of  my  subject  without  reiter- 
ating the  maxim  quoted  above  :  "  Study  the  Fathers." 
Study  them  for  the  intrinsic  value  of  their  writings,  and 
for  their  unimpeachable  witness  to  the  facts  of  primitive 
Catholicity. 

The  Christian  Church,  though  at  the  start  she  contained 
"  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,"  ^  though  she  was 
"unto  the  Greeks  foolishness,"^^  nevertheless  soon  made 
herself  felt  in  the  world,  not  only  as  a  religious,  but  as  an 
intellectual  power.  Then  were  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
first  institutions  of  Christian  education.  The  Catechetical 
School  of  Alexandria — founded  by  St.  Mark  and  adorned 
by  Athenagorus,  Pantaenus,  Clement,  Origen — the  Cathe- 
dral Schools  of  Antioch  and  Edessa,  with  others,  became 
strong  centers  of  religion  and  learning,  and  were  the  par- 
ents of  the  parish  and  public  school,  the  germ  of  the 
Christian  college,  university,  and  theological  seminary. 
Then  began  that  long  procession  of  Christian  scholars — 
men  of  saintly  lives,  who  added  to  their  virtue  knowledge. 

32.  "Eusebius,  the  historian  of  the  early  Church,  who  lived  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  third  and  early  part  of  the  fourth  centuries,  derives  the  Bishops  of 
all  Churches  from  the  Apostles.  He  gives  exact  and  authentic  catalogues  of  the 
Bishops  who  presided  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  from 
the  Apostles  down  to  his  own  time. — Cutts. 

33.  I.  Cor.,  i.,  26.    34.  I.  Cor.,  i.,  23. 


AUTHORITY.  9T 


Then  shone  forth  the  Churchly  piety  of  an  Ignatius  ;  the 
Scriptural  and  Theological  devotion  of  an  Irenseus  ;  the 
chaste,  philosophical  acumen  of  a  Justin  Martyr ;  the 
cogent  and  fervid  logic  of  a  TertuUian ;  the  prodigious 
and  inexhaustible  and  unparalleled  learning  of  an  Origen  j 
the  unconquerable,  enthusiastic,  triumphant  Faith  of  an 
Athanasius  ;  the  pious,  practical,  and  beneficent  ecclesias- 
ticism  of  a  Cyprian  and  an  Ambrose  ;  the  stern,  towering, 
indefatigable  talent  of  a  Jerome  ;  the  supreme,  universal, 
immortal  excellence  of  an  Augustine ;  and  the  hallowed 
genius  and  consecrated  eloquence  of  a  Chrysostom.  And 
thence  onward  to  our  own  times,  the  natural  succession  of 
Catholic  Scholars  runs  side  by  side  with  that  other  and 
diviner  succession — to  which  they  have  ever  paid  the 
homage  of  consentient  and  supporting  testimony — the 
"Apostolic  Succession  "  of  Bishops  in  the  Church  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

IF   THE   PRIMITIVE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH    WAS    NOT    EPISCOPAL, 
WHAT   WAS   IT  ? 

"■Nulla  Ecclesia  sine  Episcopo.'" 

"It  is  evident  unto  all  men,  diligently  reading  Holy  Scripture  and  Ancient 
Authors,  that  from  the  Apostles'  time  there  have  been  these  orders  of  Ministers 
in  Christ's  Church,  Bishops,  Priests  and  Deacons."— Pre/ace  to  the  Ordinal. 

"  Controversy  may  beat  against  these  words,  like  waves  against  a  rock,  but 
it  will  never  move  them."— Bp.  Chas.  Wordsworth's  "Outlines  of  the  Christian 
Ministry,"  p.  137. 

A  LEARNED  priest  of  the  American  Church,  who  was  for 
many  years  a  Presbyterian  minister,  has  often  re- 
marked to  the  writer  :  "  0,  when  I  was  a  Presbyterian,  and 
used  to  read  the  Fathers,  I  had  to  resort  to  most  ingenious 
explanations;  but  as  soon  as  I  began  to  read  them  from  a 
Church  standpoint  I  found  nothing  to  explain — it  was  all 
plain  sailing."  He  reasoned  thus  with  himself:  I  have 
always  read  the  Fathers  with  the  assumption  that  the 
primitive  Church  was  Presbyterian,  and  by  hook  and  by 
crook  ^  have  managed  to  explain  away  the  difficulties. 
But  why  not  make  the  experiment  of  reading  them  from 
an  Episcopalian  standpoint?  So,  beginning  with  the  New 
Testament,  he  read  all  the  ancient  Christian  writings,  and 
found  (as  we  have  seen)  that  Christ  gave  a  perpetual  com- 
mission to  His  Apostles,  that  they  ordained  not  only 
Deacons  and  Presbyters,  but  others  who  were  called  Apos- 
tles ;  that  Timothy  and  Titus  were  appointed  to  an  office 

i.    See  Appendix  to  this  Chapter. 


A  UTHORITT.  99 


and  work,  including  the  right  of  ordaining,  as  clearly- 
Episcopal  as  the  office  and  work  of  the  Bishop  of  New 
York  or  of  Minnesota ;  that  when  St.  John  wrote  to  the 
Seven  Churches  there  was  some  one  at  the  head  of  each 
Church  who  was  responsible  for  the  faith  and  practice  of 
that  Church  and  those  who  were  teachers  in  it ;  that  the 
Fathers  constantly  alluded  to  the  three  orders  of  the  min- 
istry, those  in  the  first  order  being  "  Successors  of  the 
Apostles,"  and  all  equal,  whether  at  Rome  or  elsewhere ; 
that  those  Avriters  who  had  actually  sat  at  the  feet  of  the 
blessed  Paul,  or  Peter,  or  John,  were  as  stanch  Episcopa- 
lians as  those  who  lived  later ;  that  the  Church,  as  it 
appears  on  the  pages  of  history,  was  always  Episcopal, 
and  believed  itself  to  have  been  so  by  divine  ordering  ; 
and  that  assuming  the  Catholic  Church  to  have  started 
Presbyterian,  it  is  impossible  to  assign  any  date  when  it 
became  Episcopal,  or  to  account  for  the  fact  that  no  protest 
was  made  at  a  revolution  so  radical  and  gigantic. 

To  the  Churchman  it  is  all  clear  enough — the  historic 
Church  was  Episcopal  because  it  was  born  so,  the  Apostles 
being  the  Bishops  (as  the  Fathers  testify)  :  there  was  no 
break,  no  imaginary  change  to  account  for,  nothing  to  ex- 
plain away.  But  with  the  Presbyterian,  how  is  it?  Alas  ! 
he  must  in  the  first  place  set  aside  the  Saviour's  promise 
to  be  with  His  Apostles  until  the  end  of  the  world.  Then 
he  must  prove  that  the  Apostolate  was  confined  to  the 
original  Twelve,^  Holy  Scripture  to  the  contrary  notwith- 

2.  I  have  heard  Dissenters  boldly  assert  that  the  Eleven  did  very  wrong  to 
choose  Matthias,  and  that  God  set  aside  their  action  by  appointing  St.  Paul  to 
take  the  place  of  Judas  (  !  \  and  that  there  could,  by  no  possibility,  be  more  than 
twelve  Apostles— although,  at  the  very  least,  twenty-three  (23)  are  called  "  Apos- 
tles" by  the  Holy  Ghost  inthe  New  Testament.  "But,"  the  Presbyterians  argue, 
"the  Apostles  worked  miricles,  and  no  one  can  be  an  Apostle  unless  he  can 


100  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

standing  ;  that  SS.  Timothy  and  Titus  and  the  "Angels  " 
of  the  Seven  Churches  were  not  Bishops ;  in  short,  that 
the  Apostles  left  no  successors,  although  the  Fathers  con- 
stantly assert  that  they  did.  And  having  proved  all  this, 
he  must  needs  show  how  his  primitive  Presbyterian 
Church  did  afterwards  become  Episcopal,  and  how  it  got 
the  firm  belief  that  it  had  always  been  so. 

If  Christ  had  meant  His  Church  to  be  Presbyterian,  St. 
John  would  have  known  it,  and  so  would  his  friends,  the 
Bishops  of  Antioch,  and  Smyrna,  and  their  friend,  the 
Bishop  of  Lyons,  and  the  rest.  Or,  to  reverse  the  process, 
the  Church  of  the  third  century,  which  was  nothing  if  not 
Episcopal,  must  have  known  whether  the  Church  of  the 
second  century  was  Episcopal  or  not ;  and  the  Church  of 
the  second  century  must  have  known  whether  the  Church 
of  the  first  century  was  Episcopal  or  not ;  and  the  vener- 
able Bishops  and  teachers  who  were  associated  with  St. 
John  in  the  latter  part  of  the  first  century  must  have 
known  whether  or  not  the  Church  was  Episcopal  from  the 
start.  We  have  had  their  testimony.  There  is  no  break 
in  the  chain. 

Take  the  admission  of  Gibbon  and  of  all  candid  scholars 

show  the  same  signs  of  his  Apostleship."  But  if  that  argument  proves  anything, 
it  proves  too  much;  for  the  early  Presbyters  worked  miracles,  and  the  Deacons, 
too — notably,  SS.  Stephen  and  Phillip.  Ergo,  nobody  can  be  a  Presbyter  or  a 
Deacon  unless  he  can  work  miracles;  or  even  a  layman,  for  that  matter.  The 
miraculous  powers  of  the  Early  Apostles  and  elders  and  brethren  belonged  to  the 
Pentecostal  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  were  not  a  part  of  their  perma- 
nent office.  A  Presbyterian  minister  once  challenged  the  late  Bishop  Doane  to 
prove  his  Apostleship  by  drinking  prussic  acidl  I  am  not  informed  whether 
that  venerable  Apostle  stooped  to  notice  the  impious  taunt,  but  certainly  he 
might  have  replied:  I  accept  the  challenge  on  the  condition  that  you,  Mr.  Minis- 
ter, will  prove  yourself  to  be  even  a  layman  by  doing  the  same  thing.  For  it  is 
written:  "These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe;  In  my  name  shall  they 
cast  out  devils,  *  *  *  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt 
t/iem,"  etc.  (St.  Mark,  xvi.,  17  and  18.) 


AUTHORITY.  101 


that  the  Church  was  universally  Episcopal  at  the  close  of 
the  first  century.  How  shall  we  account  for  it  ?  Well,  it 
either  started  so,  or  else  if  it  started  Presbyterian,  the 
early  Presbyterians  abandoned  it  so  soon,  so  unanimously, 
so  universally  as  to  show  that  Presbyterianism  was  regarded 
as  a  stupendous  failure — so  soon  that  the  change  was  made 
before  the  Apostles  were  cold  in  their  graves;  so  unani- 
mously that  not  a  single  Priest  or  layman  lifted  his  voice 
against  the  usurpation  of  those  who  made  themselves 
.Bishops  ;  so  universally  that  not  a  single  "  Presbytery," 
nay,  not  one  solitary  isolated  congregation,  in  the  forests 
of  Britain,  in  the  mines  of  Spain,  in  the  valleys  of  Gaul 
and  Italy,  on  the  deserts  of  Africa,  or  the  fertile  banks  of 
the  Nile,  on  the  Islands  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  the  cities 
of  Greece,  on  the  sands  of  Arabia,  on  the  prairies  of  Baby- 
lon, in  the  jungles  of  India,  or  on  the  haUowed  hills  of 
Galilee  and  Judea — not  one  poor  single  solitary  Presby- 
terian Congregation  survived  to  witness  against  Episcopal 
usurpation  and  say  like  Job's  messenger  :  "  I,  even  I  only, 
am  escaped  alone  to  tell  thee." 

If  you  strain  out  the  gnat  of  primitive  Episcopacy,  you 
have  got  to  swallow  a  camel  larger  than  the  wooden  horse 
of  Troy,  viz.,  this  :  The  assumed  Preshyierianism  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Church,  in  one  generation,  unanimously  and  universally 
changed  to  Episcopacy,  an  Episcopacy,  too,  which  knew 
nothing  of  any  change,  but  always  supposed  itself  to  have 
been  primitive  and  Apostolic  !  I  can  only  murmur  the 
trite  maxim  of  Horace  : 

Credat,  Judaeus,  Apdla, 

Non  ego! 


102         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

And  yet  every  Dissenter  swallows  this  "  camel,"  which 
is  a  necessary  postulate  of  all  non-Episcopal  systems. 

Let  there  be  no  dodging  of  the  issue.  At  an  early  date 
the  Church  was  Episcopal.  If  it  was  founded  so,  well  and 
good  ;  if  not,  what  was  it  originally,  and  when  and  how 
did  it  change  ?  It  was  not  originally  Presbyterial,  for  it 
is  absurd  to  talk  of  the  "  parity  of  the  ministry,"  when 
the  two  lower  orders  of  Priests  and  Deacons  were  subject 
to  the  oversight  of  the  Apostles.  While  the  Apostles 
lived,  therefore,  the  Church  was  undeniably  Episcopal. 
But  after  their  death?  Well,  as  has  been  shown,  there 
was  no  break.  The  post-Apostolic  Episcopate  is  dove- 
tailed into  the  Episcopate  of  the  Apostles.  But  waiving 
this,  and  passing  over  that  numerous  company  of  men 
who  were  also  called  Apostles,  suppose  we  grant,  for  the 
sake  of  argument,  that  after  the  death  of  all  the  original 
Twelve,  about  a.  d.  100,  the  whole  Church  was  Presby- 
terial— say  for  ten  years,  or,  to  be  generous  to  a  fault  with 
historic  facts,  say  fifty  years — how  on  earth  was  the  unani- 
mous and  universal  change  then  made  to  Episcopacy?  It 
is  as  if  the  United  States  should  suddenly  become  a  monar- 
chy, and  yet  not  one  state,  not  one  county,  not  one  town,  not 
one  man — be  he  congressman,  soldier,  or  private  citizen — 
utter  a  word  of  protest,  and  not  a  single  allusion  to  so  revo- 
lutionary a  change  be  made  by  any  friend  or  foe,  citizen, 
or  foreigner,  in  contemporary  and  subsequent  history. 

I  ask  our  Presbyterian  friends,  using  the  word  to  include 
all  Christian  bodies  which  have  lost  the  Apostolic  Succes- 
sion :  Would  it  be  possible  for  one  of  your  presbyters  in 
every  synod,  presbytery,  conference,  or  association  in  your 
denomination,  to  usurp  to  himself  the  office  and  functions 


AUTHORITY.  103 


of  a  Bishop,  involving  the  sole  right  to  ordain  and  con- 
firm, the  care  and  oversight  of  all  the  ministers  in  his 
district,  etc.,  and  this  spontaneously  in  all  parts  of  your 
denomination,  even  in  distant  countries,  without  any 
opportunity  for  concerted  action ;  and  yet  not  a  solitary 
voice  be  raised  in  protest,  and  not  a  single  line  left  to 
show  that  such  a  change  had  taken  place  ?  You  would 
say  :  "  The  idea  is  preposterous — the  bare  attempt  in  one 
Presbytery  would  raise  a  tempest  in  a  tea-pot,  and  we 
should  never  hear  the  last  of  it !  "  And  yet  you  believe, 
and  would  have  us  believe,  that  precisely  that  very  thing 
was  done  throughout  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  and  that, 
too,  in  an  age  when  Apostolic  tradition  was  fresh,  univer- 
sal, and  most  highly  esteemed. 

Revolutions  do  not  take  place  in  that  way.  Had  the 
Early  Church  been  Presbyterial  (and,  by  the  way,  the 
sorriest  compliment  one  can  pay  Presbyterianism  is  to 
call  it  the  primitive  polity,  for  if  so,  those  early  Presby- 
terians showed  no  love  for  it) — had  the  early  Church,  I 
say,  been  Presbyterial,  we  should  have  seen  evidence  of  it 
in  the  New  Testament,  which  we  do  not ;  then  gradually 
in  some  qviarters,  but  not  possibly  in  all  quarters,  some 
ambitious  presbyters  might  have  attempted  to  lord  it  over 
God's  heritage  (although  ambitious  clerics  are  not  the 
kind  that  court  martyrdom,  and  the  early  Bishops  were 
the  first  and  most  conspicuous  mark  for  the  persecutor), 
and  some  at  least  would  have  been  unsuccessful  in  their 
attempted  usurpations,  as  they  would  be  to-day  if  they 
tried  it  in  any  Presbyterial  denomination.  Moreover,  the 
thing  could  not  be  "  done  in  a  corner ; "  it  would  have 
been  known ;    it  would  have  been  commented  on  ;    it 


104         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

would  have  raised  a  commotion,  as  all  real  changes,  inno- 
vations, "  developments,"  even  trifling  ones,  have  done 
ever  since.  Take,  for  example,  the  "  Papacy."  It  was  not 
primitive  ;  it  was  opposed  in  its  germination  and  in  every 
stage  of  its  growth  ;  and  it  has  never  yet  heen  accepted  by 
four  out  of  the  five  great  Patriarchates  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Observe  :  A  new  order  is  created  above  the 
Bishops  ;  it  takes  many  centuries  for  it  to  effect  even  a 
partial  usurpation  ;  it  makes  a  tremendous  stir  ;  it  splits 
the  Catholic  Church  into  two,  and  at  length  into  three 
divisions.^  And  yet  Presbyterians  would  have  us  believe 
that  a  far  more  radical  revolution — one  which  destroyed 
the  "  jDriniitive  Presbyterian  Church,"  by  adding  the  "  new 
and  man-made  order  of  Bishops  " — was  carried,  not  in 
one  Patriarchate  or  portion  of  the  Church,  but  throughout 
the  whole  world,  without  any  stir  or  opposition,  without 
leaving  a  document  or  a  tradition  of  any  part  of  the  trans- 
action, and  all  within  a  few  years  of  the  death  of  St. 
John  ! ! 

Is  it  reasonable — I  submit — is  it  reasonable  ?  Nay,  is 
it  not  rather  an  insult  to  logic  and  common  sense  ?  How 
much  wiser,  how  much  easier  to  accept  the  simple,  natural 
fact,  that  the  historic  Church  is  Episcopal,  because  it 
started  so.^ 

3.  We  might  say  four,  including  the  "Old  Catholics,"  and  also  charge  it 
with  being  the  real  cause  of  the  nearly  400  Protestant  sects. 

4.  "There  is  no  doctrine  or  tenet  of  the  Christian  religion  in  which  all 
Christians  in  general  have,  for  the  space  of  fifteen  hundred  years,  so  unani- 
mously agreed,  as  in  this  of  Episcopacy.  In  all  ages  and  times  down  from  the 
Apostles,  and  in  all  places,  through  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  wheresoever  there 
were  Christians,  there  were  also  Bishops.  Even  where  Christians  differed  in 
other  points  of  doctrine  or  custom,  and  made  schisms  and  divisions  in  the 
Church,  yet  did  they  all  remain  unanimous  in  this,  in  retaining  their  Bishops." 
— Jablonskt,  quoted  by  Kev.  Wm.  A.  Rich,  in  "The  Examination  Examined." 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XII. 

DESPERATE    EXPEDIENTS    TO    GET    RID    OF    THE    BISHOPS    OP 
THE    EARLY    CHURCH. 

ONE  desperate  expedient  was  to  assume  that  each  early 
Bishop  was  only  a  Pastor  over  the  one  *'  Presbyterian 
Church  "  in  the  city,  as  James  in  Jerusalem,  Ignatius  in 
Antioch,  Onesimus  in  Ephesus,  Dionysius  in  Alexandria, 
Cyprian  in  Carthage,  Cornelius  in  Rome,  etc.  They  take 
care  not  to  mention  Titus  in  Crete  ;  for  there  were  one  hun- 
dred cities  in  Crete,  and  Titus  was  commanded  to  "  ordain 
Priests  in  every  city^^ — queer  work  for  a  Priest  who  was 
simply  Pastor  of  one  parish  !  But  how  is  it  with  the 
others  ?  Poor  St.  James  !  What  an  ''  overworked  Pastor  '' 
he  must  have  been  !  And  what  a  monstrous  "  meeting- 
house "  he  must  have  had  to  preach  in  !  When  he  was 
"  installed  "  over  his  pastoral  charge,  there  were  more 
than  3,000  members  of  his  congregation;  a  few  days  later 
(see  Acts,  iv.)  5,000  more  were  added  in  a  day ;  and  we 
read  :  "  The  Lord  added  to  the  Church  daily,"  "  Believers 
were  more  added,"  "  multitudes  —  both  of  men  and 
women,"  "  the  number  of  the  disciples  multiplied  in  Jeru- 
salem greatly,  and  a  great  company  of  the  Priests  were 
obedient  to  the  faith."  About  twenty  years  later,  St.  James 
and  all  the  Presbyters  of  Jerusalem  [the  "  Ruling  Elders," 


106         EEASOIfS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


who  composed  the  "  Session,"  forsooth],  said  to  St.  Paul : 
"Thou  seest,  brother,  how  many  thousands''' — literally, 
how  many  tens  of  thousands — "  myriads  " — "  of  Jews  there 
are  which  believe"  (Acts  xxi.,  20).  Why,  some  Presby- 
terian scholars  have  admitted  that  there  must  have  been, 
at  that  time,  50,000  Christians  in  Jerusalem.  And  consid- 
ering that  their  Churches  or  places  of  worship  were  small 
(mostly  in  private  houses),  with  daily  services,  weekly 
Eucharists,  and  thorough  pastoral  care,  there  must  have 
been  at  least  fifty  congregations,  and  fifty  to  one  hundred 
clergy  under  St.  James.  Jerusalem  was  a  great  city;  the 
Jews  had  more  than  325  Synagogues  in  it.  These  facts 
speak  for  themselves. 

And  so  with  Ignatius  in  Antioch,  a  city  of  over  200,000 
inhabitants.  He  had  many  ministering  Priests  and  Dea- 
cons under  him,  and  his  jurisdiction  extended  so  far  out- 
side the  city,  that  he  calls  himself  "  the  Bishop  of  Syria." 

As  to  Onesimus,  the  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  he  succeeded  to 
St.  Timothy,  who  was  certainly  not  a  mere  Pastor,  but  an 
Apostolic  Overseer.  And  the  idea  of  only  one  parish  in 
Ephesus,  which  fifty  years  before  had  a  goodly  number  of 
Presbyters— not  "Ruling  Elders,"  but  such  as  had  the 
duty  and  power  to  "/eed  the  Church  of  God,"  i.  e.,  Priests 
and  Preachers — is  simply  absurd. 

As  to  Alexandria,  why,  there  were  several  parishes  or 
Churches  there  while  St.  Mark  was  still  alive  (see  Euseb. 
II.,  c.  17),  and  the  Nicene  Council  alludes  to  it  as  an  "An- 
cient custom"  that  the  "Bishop  of  Alexandria"  should 
have  metropolitan  jurisdiction  "  over  all  Egypt,  Lybia, 
and  Pentapolis."  And  St.  Jerome  says:  "At  Alexandria, 
from  Mark  the  Evangelist  down  to  the  times  of  the  Bish- 


AUTHORITY.  107 


ops  Heraclas  and  Dionysius,  the  Presbyters  always  nomi- 
nated as  Bishop  one  chosen  out  of  their  own  body  and 
placed  in  a  higher  grade." — Jerome,  Ad  Evag. 

The  same  is  true  as  to  St.  Cyprian  in  Carthage,  where 
were  many  thousands  of  Christians,  and  where  Geisericus 
found  "  the  Bishop  and  a  very  great  multitude  of  clergy  " 
( maximam  turbam  clericorum ),  and  these,  not  "  Iluling 
Elders,"  for  their  Bishop,  Cyprian,  calls  them  "  Glorious 
Priests  " — gloriosis  sacerdotibus.  A  few  years  later  we  have 
the  names  of  the  Cathedral  and  ten  of  the  Churches  of 
Carthage.  While  Cornelius,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  had 
under  him,  at  that  time,  forty-six  Presbyters  and  seven 
Deacons,  besides  sub-deacons,  lay -readers,  etc.  (See  Eu- 
seb.,  VI.,  c.  43.) 

"  The  earliest  Bishops  of  Rome,  we  have  no  hesitation 
iu  affirming,  were  diocesan  Bishops.  We  learn  from  Tao- 
itus  that  in  Rome,  in  the  persecution  under  Nero,  *  a  vast 
multitude  '  were  apprehended,  and  convicted  of  the  crime 
of  being  Christians.  Had  tliat  vast  multitude,  in  that 
vast  city,  but  a  solitary  Presbyter,  a  simple  parish  Bishop, 
to  minister  to  them  and  to  watch  over  their  souls  ?  And 
if  there  were  many — how  did  it  come  to  pass  that  twelve 
of  them  in  succession,  from  Linus  in  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  to  Eleutherius  in  the  time  of  Irenseus,  attained  so 
marked  a  pre-eminence  that  the  names  of  those  twelve 
alone  were  thought  worth  recording?" — (From  p.  70  of 
an  excellent  little  pamphlet  on  Episcopacy,  entitled  "  The 
Examination  Examined,"  by  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Rich,  Priest 
in  the  Diocese  of  Albany.) 

Many  Presbyterian  scholars,  seeing  the  absurdity  of 
this  notion,  have  advanced  the  theory  that  the  Bishops  of 


108         REA80NS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

the  early  Church  were  merely  the  "  Moderators  of  the 
Presbyteries  "  [Sic].  I  think  it  would  be  a  surprise  to 
those  venerable  Apostles  now  in  Paradise,  if  they  could 
hear  of  it.  Well,  call  them  "  Moderators,"  if  you  will ; 
but  Moderators  who  held  a  life  position,  as  those  early 
"  Moderators  "  did,  who,  like  Timothy  and  Titus,  ordained 
alone  (which  no  Presbyterian  Moderator  ever  thought  of 
doing)  ;  who  tried  and  deposed  Priests  and  Deacons ; 
whose  office  (to  which,  by  the  way,  they  were  always  set 
apart  by  a  neio  Ordination)  exalted  them,  even  though 
young  men,  like  Timothy  or  Damas,  over  the  heads  of  the 
Jioly  seniors;  who  were  the  unifying  and  governing  power, 
each  in  a  given  district,  including  some  central  city  and 
the  adjacent  country  ;  who  claimed  to  be  "  Successors  of 
the  Apostles  ;  "  who  called  themselves  "  Bishops  "  ;  who 
did  everything  which  a  Bishop  does  to-day,  and  which  a 
Moderator  does  not  do — such  a  "  Moderator,"  I  say,  by 
whatever  name  you  call  him,  is  a  Bishop  and  an  Apostle. 

"  That  which  we  call  a  rose, 
By  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

A     FEW     FRAGMENTS     THAT     REMA.IN     TOUCHING     APOSTOLIC 
SUCCESSION. 

"It  is  as  impossible  for  an  impartial  man  to  doubt  whether  there  was  a  siic- 
cession  of  Bishops  from  the  Apostles,  as  it  would  be  to  call  in  question  the  suc- 
cession of  the  Roman  Emperors  from  Julius  Csesar,  or  the  succession  of  Kings  in 
any  other  country."— Arc7ib(8?iop  Potter,  of  Canterbury. 

"The  doctrine  of  Apostolical  Succession  is  indeed  established  by  the  plain 
sense  of  Holy  Scripture;  but  the  presumption  also  in  its  favor  derived  from  its 
history  is  singular  and  overwhelming.  Other  doctrines  develop  slowly;  this 
starts  forth  at  once.  Other  doctrines  find  their  first  formal  statement  in  Fathers 
removed  by  a  century  or  even  more  from  apostolic  times ;  this  is  enunciated  and 
enforced  in  the  most  emphatic  words  by  those  who  had  been  taught  by  the 
Apostles  themselves.  Other  doctrines  have  been  disputed  from  time  to  time, 
and  have  worked  their  way  to  acceptance  by  the  gradually  elaborated  balance  and 
combination  of  opposite  truths ;  this  one  held  undisputed  and  absolute  posses- 
sion of  men's  beliefs  throughout  the  Church  for  fifteen  hundred  years."— Had- 
DAN  ON  Apostolical  Succession. 

THERE  are  still  several  lines  of  argument  in  defense  of 
primitive  Episcopacy,  which  I  have  not  even  hinted 
at,  but  which  are  incontrovertible  and  all  point  the  same 
way. 

Such  are  the  Canons  enacted  by  the  Early  Church,  not 
to  create  or  introduce  Episcopacy,  but  to  guard  it  as  an 
Apostolic  trust,  and  hand  it  down  to  the  ages  to  come, 
particularly  the  "Apostolic  Canon  "  requiring  three  Bish- 
ops to  take  part  in  the  ordination  of  every  Bishop.     This 


110         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

ancient  custom,  which  was  made  binding  on  the  whole 
Church  by  the  Council  of  Nicjsa,  both  shows  how  impor- 
tant was  the  preservation  of  the  Episcopal  Succession  in 
the  estimation  of  the  Fathers,  and  is  also  a  guarantee  that 
the  Succession  has  not  been  lost  through  the  ages.  Apos- 
tolic Succession  is  not  a  chain  consisting  of  a  single  row  of 
links — although  that  would  be  strong  enough — but  rather 
an  intricate  network  such  as  no  spider  ever  wove,  and  no 
one  strand  of  which  is  essential  to  the  continuity  of  the 
whole.  To  prove  it,  take  a  net  of  wire  rings  and  strands, 
each  ring  representing  a  Bishop,  and  the  interlacing  strands 
his  sacramental  connection  with  those  who  ordained  him, 
and  with  those  whom  he,  in  conjunction  with  others, 
ordained  ;  extend  it  so  as  to  represent  one  century  or 
eighteen  centuries  of  the  Church's  life  ;  then  apply  a  gal- 
vanic current  at  one  end  of  the  net ;  of  course  it  will  be 
felt  at  the  other.  Take  out  a  ring  here  and  there ;  nay» 
cut  and  slash  the  wire  strands,  and  break  the  rings  by  the 
score,  the  circuit  will  still  be  unbroken.  So  it  is  with  the 
Catholic  Episcopate.  Invalidate  it  here  and  there,  if  you 
can;  the  error  will  be  rectified  in  a  few  years.  "If  you 
can,"  I  say,  but  can  you  '?  Try  it  and  see.  Put  your  fin- 
ger on  one  single  Bishop  of  the  Catholic  Church — Ancient 
or  Modern,  Greek,  Latin,  or  Anglican — and  prove  that  his 
consecrators  were  not  Bishops,  that  his  orders  are  nil  ; 
prove  it,  I  say,  or  even  throw  a  fair  degree  of  suspicion  on 
it,  if  you  can,  and  then — what  ?  Why,  console  yourself 
with  the  thought  that  you  have  done  no  harm  ;  and  even 
could  you  have  demolished  an  hundred  Episcopal  links, 
instead  of  [not  even]  one.,  the  Apostolic  Succession  would 
still  be  intact  ;  just  as  surgeons  sometimes  apply  a  liga- 


AUTHORITY.  Ill 


iure  to  the  femoral  artery^  and  then  find  that  the  almost 
unnoticed  collateral  circulation  proves  sufficient  to  nourish 
the  limb  in  every  part.  In  our  Mother  Church  of  Eng- 
land the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  have  been  the  chief 
Consecrators  of  Bishops  for  1300  years.  And  yet  (to  make 
the  wildest  concession  imaginable),  suppose  that  every 
one  of  them — from  St.  Augustine  to  Dr.  Benson — was  an 
impostor,  a  mitred  layman,  the  Anglican  Succession  would 
still  be  unimpaired,  and  Anglican  orders  as  valid  as  be- 
fore. As  a  recent  writer  has  said  :  "  The  first  Canon  of 
the  most  ancient  body  of  Canons  in  the  Christian  Church 
— called  the  Apostolic  Canons^ — requires  that  a  Bishop 
shall  be  consecrated  by  two  or  three  Bishops,  thus  recog- 
nizing the  collective  idea  from  the  start,  and  the  larger  of 
these  numbers,  three,  has  been  the  express  requirement  of 
all  subsequent  canonical  legislation  on  the  subject. 

It  has  always  been  maintained  in  the  Anglican  Church, 
and  in  every  branch  of  it  to  this  day,  though  not  so  strictly 
in  the  Roman  branch,  nor  has  any  Anglican  consecration 
ever  taken  place  with  less  than  three  Bishops  uniting  in  the 
act.  This  gives  a  threefold  guarantee  of  validity  to  every 
Bishop  consecrated.  It  is  an  open  and  public  guarantee. 
As  each  of  the  three  consecrators  must  himself  have  been 
consecrated  by  three  others,  the  second  step  has  a  ninefold 
guarantee,  and  so  on  by  geometrical  progression.     This  is 

1.  Another  of  these  Apostolical  Canons  says:  "  Neither  do  we  permit  the 
laity  to  perform  any  of  the  offices  belonging  to  the  Priesthood;  as,  for  instance, 
neither  the  sacrifice,  nor  baptism,  nor  the  laying  on  of  hands,  nor  the  blessing, 
whether  the  smaller  or  the  greater,  for  'no  one  taketh  this  honor  to  himself,  but 
he  that  is  called  of  God.'  For  such  sacred  offices  are  conferred  by  the  laying  on 
of  the  hands  of  the  Bishop.  But  a  person  to  whom  such  an  office  is  not  commit- 
ted, but  he  seizes  upon  it  for  himself,  he  shall  undergo  the  punishment  of 
Uzziah." 


112         REASOl^S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

somewhat  reduced  by  the  same  Bishop  acting  in  two  or 
more  consecrations.  It  is,  on  the  other  hand,  increased  by 
the  fact  that  very  often  four  or  more  Bishops  join  in  a 
consecration,  thus  greatly  multiplying  the  threads  of  con- 
nection with  the  past.  Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  the 
present  Bishop  of  Albany.  He  was  consecrated  by  five 
Bishops,  and,  tracing  up  the  lines  of  their  consecrators,  it 
will  be  found  that  every  Priest  ordained  by  Bishop  Doane 
combines  in  himself  the  transmission  of  the  spiritual  gift 
through  no  less  than  sixty-nine  Bishops  of  the  American 
Episcopate,  including  the  whole  of  the  four  {one  Scottish 
and  three  English)  consecrations  with  which  our  American 
succession  begins  ;  and  besides  these  includes  four  Bishops 
of  the  English  and  Colonial  Churches — Spencer,  Medley, 
Fulford,  and  Staley — besides  the  three  Scottish  and  six 
English  with  whom  our  succession  began,  or  eighty-two 
Bishops  in  all.  And  this  is  in  less  than  one  century. 
The  same  rule,  having  prevailed  in  every  part  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  from  the  beginning,  must  everywhere  have 
produced  the  same  result.  It  is  as  sure  and  as  simple  as 
the  multiplication  table.     It  leaves  no  room  for  doubt. 

Take  our  American  Church,  for  instance.  Is  it  con- 
ceivable that  a  man  should  be  received  by  all  the  clergy 
and  laity  of  a  diocese  as  a  Bishop  who  had  never  been  con- 
secrated f  And  that,  too,  when  the  sole  ground  on  which  he 
could  be  received  was  that  he  had  been  consecrated  !  Is  it 
conceivable  that  a  man  would  be  received  into  the  House 
ot  Bishops,  and  sit  and  vote  there  unquestioned,  while  as 
yet  he  had  never  been  consecrated  ?  And  that,  too,  when  the 
sole  right  to  a  seat  rested  on  the  fact  that  he  had  been 
consecrated,  and  those  among  whom  he  sat  must  have  cer- 


AUTHORITY.  113 


tainly  known  whether  they  had  consecrated  him  or  not  ! 
And  as  these  consecrations  are  things  of  public  local  noto- 
riety, the  stealing  in  of  any  unconsecrated  man,  and  his 
universal  recognition,  both  by  the  clergy  and  laity  of 
a  diocese,  as  well  as  by  the  House  of  Bishops,  is  a  moral 
impossibility.  The  same  is  true  of  every  Province  and 
Provincial  Synod  in  Christendom. 

The  fact  of  consecration,  therefore,  is  as  certain  as  any 
human  event  can  be.  And  in  every  such  consecration 
there  is  the  personal  contact  of  the  consecrators  and  the  conse- . 
crated,  and  each  consecrator  imparts  to  the  consecrated 
that  which  he  himself  already  possesses — a  part  in  that  One 
Episcopate  of  the  Catholic  Church,  of  which  each  validly 
consecrated  Bishop  has  an  undivided  share.  No  one  can 
say  of  such  an  act  that  the  consecrators  undertook  to  give 
what  they  had  not  got  themselves.  And  the  requirement  of 
three  or  more  consecrators  in  each  consecration  produces, 
not  a  single  chain  composed  of  single  links,  the  failure  of 
any  one  of  which  would  break  the  line ;  but  it  gives  a 
multitudinous  web  of  validity,  so  widespreading  and  com- 
prehensive that  the  loss  of  one  thread  here  and  there — 
even  if  it  could  be  proved  (as  it  can  not) — would  have  no 
effect  at  all  on  the  general  result."  ^ 

The  Apostolic  Succession  is  thus  vastly  more  certain 
than  that  of  the  Jewish  High  Priests,  nor  can  any  King 
in  all  the  world  be  half  so  sure  that  he  is  the  heir  of  his 
ancestors,  as  can  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  that  they  are 
the  lawful  inheritors  of  the  office  and  commission  of  the 
Blessed  Apostles.  "  The  official  lives  of  two  Bishops  of 
our  own  Church,  Bishops  White  and  Smith,  extending 

3.    Rev.  J.  H.  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  in  Am.  Cli.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1885. 


114  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

over  nearly  a  century,  suggests  that  the  chain  of  Episcopal 
Succession  has  not  so  many  links  as  is  often  imagined, 
and  (from  such  imagination)  argued  that  it  is  quite  in- 
credible that  there  should  be  no  missing  link  in  that  chain. 
Thirty-six  of  such  lives  carry  us  back  to  the  Apostolic 
age  ;  and  when  it  is  furthermore  considered  that  the  rule 
has  always  prevailed  of  requiring  at  least  three  Bishops  to 
unite  in  the  consecration  of  another,  it  will  readily  be 
seen  that  so  far  from  there  being  a  high  degree  of  proba- 
bility against  the  continuance  of  a  lineal  succession  in  the 
Episcopate,  there  is  scarcely  the  least  ground  for  the 
opinion  that  it  could  have  failed  even  if  we  had  not  ample 
documentary  evidence  to  the  contrary."  ^ 

Another  argument  is  to  be  found  in  the  homage  which 
all  early  schismatics  paid  to  Episcopacy  ;  for  they  re- 
sorted to  desperate  expedients  in  order  to  get  the  Apos- 
tolic Succession.  For  example,  when  the  Roman  Presby- 
ter, Novatianus,  started  his  schism,  about  a.  d.  250,  he  is 
said  to  have  invited  three  country  Bishops  to  his  house, 
where  he  dined  them,  and  wined  them,  and  made  them 
drunk,  and  then  forced  them  to  go  through  the  sacriligious 
form  of  ordaining  him  a  Bishop.  And  yet,  like  all  schis- 
matics, his  ostensible  aim  was  to  purify  the  Church  !  In 
like  manner,  Fortunatus,  who  headed  a  schism  in  Carth- 
age, during  the  Episcopate  of  good  St.  Cyprian,  got 
himself  ordained  by  Privatus,  an  excomraunicated  Bishop, 
assisted  by  several  of  his  kind,  whom  St.  Cyprian  calls 
"false  bishops."  A  few  early  sects  who  were  unable  to 
get  even  the  shadow  of  a  succession,  set  up  a  man-made 

3.    The  Kt.  Rev.  H.  A.  Neely,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Maine,  Convention  Address, 

1884. 


AUTHORITY.  115 


ministry  with  imitation  bishops,  like  the  "  Tulcan  bishops," 
who  for  a  while  drew  the  Episcopal  revenues  of  Scotland, 
or  like  the  so-called  "  bishops  "  of  the  Danish  Lutherans, 
and  the  Methodist  Episcopalians. 

Another  argument  might  be  found  in  the  occasional 
allusions  to  the  polity  of  the  Church,  which  are  made  by 
pagan  writers,  and  by  the  early  opponents  of  Christianity. 
Fas  est  ah  hoste  doceri. 

Or,  take  the  two  or  three  instances  where  a  disappointed 
priest  undertook  to  play  the  bishop.  Early  in  the  fourth 
century,  Colluthus,  a  Presbyter  at  Alexandria,  separated 
from  his  Bishop  and  undertook  to  ordain  certain  men  to 
the  priesthood.  Whereupon  a  council  of  all  the  Bishops 
in  Egypt  was  held  in  Alexandria,  a.  d.  324,  by  which  the 
ordinations  above  mentioned  were  declared  null  and  void, 
on  the  ground  that  Colluthus  not  being  a  Bishop,  but  only 
a  Priest,  had  no  power  of  ordaining.  Those  whom  he  had 
laid  his  hands  on,  pretending  to  make  them  Priests,  were 
declared  to  be  simply  laymen,  and,  having  been  reconciled 
to  the  Church,  lived  thereafter  in  lay-communion.* 

In  the  same  century,  Aerius,  a  Presbyter  who  was  dis- 
appointed at  not  being  made  a  Bishop,  apostatized  from 
the  Faith,  denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and,  as  St.  Jer- 
ome says,  "  is  reported  to  have  added  also  some  dogmas  of 
his  own  [sic],  saying  that  there  ought  to  be  no  difference 
between  a  Presbyter  and  a  Bishop."  ^  He  was  well 
answered  by  Epiphanius,  who  called  his  novel  theory  "  an 
outrageous   and   senseless   doctrine  " —  dogma  furiosum  et 

4.  See  Athanasius'  Works,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  134  and  193. 

5.  ^'Propria  quoque  addisse  dogmata  nonnuUa,  dicens  Presbyterum  ab 
Episcopo  nulla  differentia  debere  discerni." 


116         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

stoUdum.  The  Churchmen  of  his  day  regarded  him  as  a 
"  mad  man." 

Finally,  take  the  history  of  the  Ancient  Councils,  espe- 
cially the  Six  General  Councils,  which  brought  together  in 
all  1,630  Bishops  from  all  parts  of  the  Universal  Church  ; 
study  them  with  care.  It  is  all  one  way:  There  is  no 
popery  and  no  parity  in  any  of  them. 

Such  is  a  part  of  the  evidence  of  antiquity  as  to  the 
divine  order  and  polity  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Well 
does  Archbishop  Potter  say  :  "  There  is  such  a  multitude 
of  unexceptionable  witnesses  for  this  fact,  as  can  scarce  be 
produced  for  any  other  matter  of  fact,  except  the  rise  and 
progress  of  Christianity  ;  so  that  whoever  shall  deny  this 
may  with  better  reason  reject  all  histories  whatever." 
Apostolical  Succession  is  a  historical  fact.  And  Macaulay, 
who  is  often  quoted  against  the  doctrine,  said  :  "  What- 
ever may  be  the  doctrine,  there  can  be  no  question  of  the 
historical  truth."  And  here  I  close  the  testimony  of  an- 
tiquity, lest  it  be  said  of  me,  as  of  another  :  Utetur  in  re 
non  dubia  argumentis  non  necessariis.^ 


6.    "In  an  affair  which,  admits  of  no  doubt,  he  uses  superfluous  arguments." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    ANGLICAN    CHURCH    AND    THE    "FELLOWSHIP    OF    THE 
APOSTLES." 

"  O,  mother  of  our  sinful  land, 
By  kings  and  saints  of  yore 
Called  to  B^-ittania's  savage  strand 
From  Syria's  distant  shore." 

—Lyra  Apostolica,  p.  173. 

IN  assigning  reasons  why  we  Anglo-Saxons  should  be 
Anglo- Catholics  instead  of  either  i^ommi-Catholics  or 
anft-Catholics,  I  have  shown  that  the  primitive  Church 
had  certain  definite  marks  which  must  be  retained  in 
essential  continuity  by  any  Church  which  would  justly 
claim  the  allegiance  of  thoughtful  and  pious  men.  These 
marks,  as  laid  down  in  the  Bible  and  as  apparent  in  the 
early  Church,  are  Baptism,  the  Doctrine  of  the  Apostles, 
the  Fellowship  of  the  Apostles,  the  Breaking  of  the  Bread, 
and  the  Prayers — in  other  words,  the  New  Birth,  the 
Orthodox  Faith,  the  Apostolic  Ministry,  the  Eucharist, 
and  the  "  Divine  Liturgy  "  (as  Early  Christians  used  often 
to  call  the  Church's  most  solemn  prayers). 

Now,  if  the  Anglican  Church  be  a  true  and  pure  branch 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  it  must  be  found  to  possess  all 
these  things,  and  if  any  of  them  have  ever,  even  for  a 


118         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

short  time,  been  lost  or  impaired,  they  must  have  been 
lawfully  restored.  I  cannot  see  that  any  one  of  these 
things  was  ever  lacking  in  the  Christianity  of  England, 
though  at  times  some  of  them  have  been  somewhat  clogged 
in  their  use  and  operation.  But  I  dwell  at  length  on  the 
Apostolic  Fellowship,  which  inheres  in  the  Catholic  Epis- 
copate, because  it,  and  it  alone,  has  the  power  to  remedy 
all  defects ;  or,  as  St.  Paul  said  to  the  first  Bishop  of 
Crete,  to  "  set  in  order  the  things  which  are  wanting."  ^ 

No  reader  is  asked  to  take  for  granted  the  conclusions 
to  which  this  course  of  argument  may  ultimately  lead ; 
but  only  to  follow  candidly  and  without  prejudice  the 
process  of  interrogating  the  Bible  and  history  to  find  the 
essentials  of  Catholicity,  and  then  to  see  whether  the  An- 

4 

1.  In  this  connection  the  eloquent  words  of  the  late  Bishop  of  Ohio  are  cer- 
tainly apropos :  "  Deprive  the  Church  of  her  ministry,  and  all  her  other  agencies 
of  good,  except  under  a  special  Providence,  must  wither  away;  then  zeal  for  the 
truth  languishes  and  dies,  because  the  constituted  channel  of  its  nourishment  is 
cut  off;  agents  and  efforts  of  religious  usefulness  cease,  because  the  voice  of 
those  whom  God  has  ordained  to  summon  and  animate  them  to  duty  is  not 
heard ;  *  *  *  the  Bible  is  not  sought  for,  because  the  commissioned  expoun- 
ders and  enforcers  of  its  truths  are  not;  Christianity,  with  all  her  lovely  retinue 
of  virtues  and  benefits,  withdraws  from  the  abodes  of  men,  because  her  cause  is 
not  pleaded;  her  solemn  feasts  are  not  celebrated:  her  altars  are  not  honored; 
he'r  law  is  not  published;  her  blessings  are  not  proclaimed.  Thus  the  day  is 
turned  into  night,  and  the  garden  of  the  Lord  into  a  wilderness  and  solitary 
place.  Nothing,  in  such  a  condition,  could  bring  back  the  sun  and  the  rain  and 
the  dew— nothing  restore  Christianity,  with  *  *  *  the  Bible,  the  Sanctuary, 
the  daily  oblation,  and  all  that  is  precious  in  heavenly  grace,  but  the  reinstate- 
ment of  that  ministry  of  reconciliation,  by  which,  in  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel, 
the  world  was  so  rapidly  and  wonderfully  planted  with  its  blessings. 

"If  any  ask,  why  such  connection ;  it  is  enough  at  present  to  answer — ^So  is 
the  will  of  Oud.''  It  might  have  been  otherwise.  But  He  who  ordained  that  the 
earth  should  have  no  day  but  by  the  shining  of  the  sun,  hath  alike  ordained  that 
the  world  shall  have  no  spiritual  light  but  by  reflection  from  His  Church,  and  His 
Church  no  power  of  reflection  but  by  the  agency  of  her  ministry,  to  which  is  com- 
mitted the  word  of  reconciliation,  and  which,  like  the  mystic  lamps  of  the  Taber- 
nacle, He  hath  set  up  in  the  midst  of  the  sanctuary."— The  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Mcll- 
vaine.  The  Christian  Ministry,  p.  15. 


AUTHORITY.  119 


glican  Church  has  retained  them.  If  we  find  that  she 
has  not,  and  that  some  other  rehgious  body  has — be  it  the 
Tridentine  Church  or  the  Salvation  Army — then  let  us 
yield  gracefully,  and  say  with  the  converted  Epicurean  : 

"Nunc  retrorsnm 
Vela  dare  atque  iterare  cursus, 
Cogor  relictos." 

Thus  far  we  have  seen  that  the  Anglican  Church  has 
always  continued  steadfastly  in  the  primitive  theory  and 
practice  of  Holy  Baptism,  and  in  the  Orthodox  Catholic 
Faith.  Has  she  also  kept  fellowship  with  the  Apostles 
through  the  Apostolic  ministry  which  Christ  ordained? 
I  answer  :  Our  Mother  Church,  from  her  infancy  among 
the  Britons  to  this  day,  has  never  for  one  hour  known 
what  it  is  to  be  without  her  Catholic  Episcopate. 

The  actual  date  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into 
Britain  has  no  bearing  on  the  authority  of  our  Church. 
The  oldest  Church  is  that  of  Jerusalem,  followed  by  the 
various  dioceses  and  provinces  of  the  East.  The  Church 
in  Rome  was  for  a  long  time  only  an  Oriental  mission, 
working  among  the  Greeks  and  Jews  of  the  Metropolis. 
It  was  in  Greek  that  St.  Paul  wrote  his  letter  to  the  Ro- 
man Christians,  and  Greek  was  for  two  centuries  the 
official  and  liturgical  language  of  the  Church  in  Rome. 
No  one  dreamed  of  such  a  thing  as  that  the  struggling 
community  of  Christians  in  Rome  was  in  any  sense  the 
Mother  and  Mistress  of  all  Christendom.  There  is,  more- 
over, strong  ground  for  believing  that  Christianity  was 
introduced  into  Britain  as  early,  if  not  earlier  than  into 
Rome.  Indeed,  there  is  some  evidence  that  the  Church 
got  a  foothold  in  Britain  five  years  before  it  was  planted 


120         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

in  Rome  ;  so  that  Rome,  instead  of  being  our  Mother, 
would  really  be  only  a  younger  sister,  and — more's  the 
pity  ! — not  a  very  loving  one  at  that.  As  Hore  says  (in 
his  "  Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Church  in  England,"  p. 
191)  :  "  It  has  been  asserted  that  the  foundation  of  the 
British  Church  was  prior  in  date  to  that  of  the  Roman  : 
Cf.  Crackenthorp,  Def.  Eccl.  Angl,  p.  23.  '  De  Brittannica 
Ecclesia  nostra  liquidum  estfuisse  illam  aliquot  ante  Romanam, 
annis  fundatam.  *  *  *  Discs  Romanam  ecclesiam,  Brit- 
annicse  nostrss  non  matrem  sed  sororem,  atque  sororem  integro 

QUINQUENNIO   MINOREM.'  "  ^ 

Linus,  whom  St.  Paul  ordained  as  the  first  Bishop  of 
Rome,  was  a  Briton,  and  is  with  good  reason  believed  to 
have  been  converted  to  Christianity  in  Britain  before  ever 
he  came  to  Rome.  His  father,  Caractacus,  a  petty  British 
king,  and  his  grandfather.  Bran,  a  Druid,  were  carried  to 
Rome,  together  with  his  sister,  Claudia,^  and  lived  in  the 
imperial  palace.  St.  Paul  says  (Phil.,  iv.,  22):  "All  the 
saints  salute  you,  chiefly  those  that  are  of  Caesar's  house- 
hold ;"  and  again  (II.  Tim.,  iv.,  21):  "  Eubulus  greeteth 
thee,  and  Pudens,  and  Linus,  and  Claudia."  For  the 
whole  story  about  these  royal  British  Christians  and  their 
relation  to  St.  Paul,  see  Here's  Eighteen  Centuries,  and 
Jenning's  Ecclesia  Anglicana. 

The  evidence  that  St.  Paul,  after  his  journey  into  Spain 
(See  Rom.,  xv.,  24  and  28),  made  a  brief  visit  to  Britain, 

2.  As  to  our  British  Church,  it  is  clear  that  it  was  founded  some  years  be- 
fore the  Roman.  *  *  *  Learn,  then,  that  the  Roman  Church  is  not  the  Mother 
of  our  British  Church,  but  the  sister,  and  that,  too,  a  sister  fully  five  years 
younger. 

3.  Clement,  the  third  Bishop  of  Rome,  speaks  of  "most  holy  Linus,  the 
brother  of  Claudia." 


AUTHORITY.  121 


although  not  regarded  conclusive  by  some  scholars,  is 
pretty  strong,  and  at  least  proves  the  great  antiquity  of 
the  British  Church. 

Gildas,  the  first  Briton  whose  writings  are  extant  (sixth 
century)  says  that  Christianity  dawned  on  Britain  as  early 
as  A.  D.  61. 

Fortunatus,  a  poet  of  the  sixth  century,  says  St.  Paul 
"  passed  over  the  ocean  to  Britain."  Theodoret  (b.  386, 
Bishop  of  Cyprus  410)  says  that  "  St.  Paul,  at  the  time  of 
his  journey  into  S]3ain,  brought  salvation  to  the  islands 
lying  in  the  ocean ; "  that  he  went  to  Spain,  and  thence 
carried  the  Gospel  to  other  nations  ;  and  he  expressly 
states  that  some  of  the  Apostles  preached  to  the  Britons. 
He  says  :  "  Our  fishermen  and  publicans,  and  he  who  was 
a  tent-maker,  carried  the  evangelical  precepts  to  all  nations  ; 
not  only  to  those  who  lived  under  the  Roman  jurisdiction, 
but  also  to  the  Scythians  and  the  Huns  ;  besides  to  the 
Indians,  Britons,  and  Germans." 

St.  Jerome  (b.  about  340)  says  that  St.  Paul  went  from 
one  ocean  to  another,  that  he  preached  the  Gospel  in  the 
western  parts,  as  far  as  the  earth  itself.  Britain  was  regarded 
as  the  extremity  of  the  western  world. 

Eusebius  (b.  about  290)  says  that  some  of  the  Apostles 
crossed  the  ocean  to  those  islands  which  are  called  British. 

Origen,  who  flourished  a.  d.  197,  says  :  "  The  power  of 
the  Saviour  reached  as  far  as  Britain." 

Tertullian  (b.  about  135)  says  :  "  There  are  places  in 
Britain  inaccessible  to  Roman  arms,  which  are  subdued  to 
Christ." 

Justin  Martyr  (b.  about  100)  says  that  Christianity 
existed  in  every  country  known  to  the  Romans. 


122         REASOIfS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

And  St.  Clement,  the  third  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  "  fellow- 
laborer  "  of  St.  Paul,  says  that  St.  Paul  preached  the  Gos- 
pel to  "  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  loest.^^ 

"There  can  be," says  Here,  "no  reasonable  ground  for 
doubting  that  the  British  Church  was  not  only  of  very 
ancient,  but  also  of  Apostolic  foundation.  A  Roman 
Catholic  writer,  not  generally  very  favorable  to  the  Angli- 
can Church,  whose  testimony  on  that  account  is  the  more 
valuable,  readily  admits  this  :  '  It  is  probable,'  he  says, 
*  that  Christianity  was  disseminated  over  parts  of  England 
during  the  Apostolic  age.  This  was  universally  believed  by 
our  ancestors.  *  *  *  The  documents  on  which  the  his- 
tory of  the  first  conversion  of  England  depends,  approach 
much  nearer  than  those  of  the  ancient  Romans  to  historical 
certitude y  ^ 

The  old  legends  about  St.  James  and  Joseph  of  Arima- 
thea  going  to  Glastonbury,  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  his- 
torical, but  are  valuable  as  showing  the  general  belief  that 
Christianity  was  on  British  soil  in  the  first  century  ;  and 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  church  in  Glaston- 
bury was  the  first  building  ever  erected  for  Christian  wor- 
ship. 

While  much  obscurity  hangs  over  the  early  history  of 
our  Church  in  Britain,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was 
very  ancient,  that  it  was  independent  oi foreign  control^  that 
it  received  help  from  Gaul  in  the  second  century ;  and  as 
Gaul  received  its  Christianity  from  Ephesus  and  not  from 
Italy,  the  British  Church  was  very  Oriental  in  its  ways, 
and  on  that  account  had,  and  has  to  this  day,  several 

4.  Butler's  Book  of  the  Church,  quoted  in  Hore's  Eighteen  Centuries, 
pp.  8-9. 


AUTHORITY,  123 


points  of  difference  from  the  Western  Churches  which 
were  more  intimately  associated  with  Italy. 

If,  as  we  are  whirled  across  the  country,  we  look  out  of 
the  car  window  every  few  minutes,  and  each  time  see  the 
landscape  covered  thick  with  snow,  we  feel  sure  that  the 
snow  has  fallen  all  along  the  line.  So,  from  the  few 
glimpses  that  we  get  of  the  early  British  Church,  we  see 
that  it  was  Episcopal^  and  are  sure  that  in  the  brief  inter- 
vals between  these  glimpses,  the  Apostolic  Ministry  ever 
spread  the  white  vestments  of  its  divine  and  gracious 
office  over  the  rugged  surface  of  that  ancient  Church. 

After  the  Diocletian  persecution,  a.  d.  303,  in  which  our 
Proto-martyr,  St.  Alban,  suffered  for  the  truth,  many 
Roman  soldiers  stationed  in  Britain,  became  interested 
in  Christianity,  and  at  least  learned  to  respect  it — among 
whom  was  the  Military  Governor,  Constantius,  the  father 
of  the  Emperor  Constantino.  Constantine,  thanks  to  his 
residence  in  Britain,  was  favorable  to  the  religion  of 
Christ,  and  became  the  first  Christian  Emperor.  In  the 
year  314  he  summoned  a  Council  of  Bishops  at  Aries,  and 
among  those  who  were  present  and  signed  the  decrees  of 
the  Council,  were  three  Bishops  from  our  own  Church, 
accompanied  by  a  Priest  and  a  Deacon.  They  were  Res- 
titutus,  Bishop  of  London,  Eborius,  Bishop  of  York,  and  Adel- 
phius,  who  was  Bishop  probably  of  Caerleon  on  Usk  (the 
modern  St.  Davids,  of  which,  at  this  writing,  the  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  Jones  is  Bishop). 

It  is  uncertain,  but,  on  the  whole,  highly  probable  that 
British  Bishops  were  present  at  the  General  Council  of 
Nicsea,  a.  d.  325.  At  all  events,  they  were  invited,  and 
they  accepted  the  doctrinal  decrees  of  the  Council.    Bish- 


124         REASOI^S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


op  Restitutus  and  probably  some  other  Bishops  attended 
the  Council  of  Sardica,  a.  d.  347.  And  at  the  unfortunate 
Council  of  Rimine,  a  number  of  British  Bishops  were 
present,  and  so  independent  were  they  that,  as  is  recorded 
by  Sulpicius  Severus,  they  thought  it  unbecoming  that 
Britons  should  accept  the  generous  offer  of  the  Emperor  to 
defray  their  expenses  from  the  public  treasury,  with  the 
exception  of  three  who  were  in  straitened  circumstances. 
^'Britannis  indecens  visum  est;  repudiatis  fiscalibus,  propriis 
sumptibus  vivere  voluerunt.^'' ° 

Thus  our  Mother  Church,  with  the  Sacrament  of  Holy 
Baptism,  with  the  Orthodox  Faith,  with  the  Apostolic 
Ministry  of  Bishops,^  Priests,  and  Deacons — and  of  course 
also  with  the  Holy  Eucharist  and  a  truly  Catholic  Liturgy 
— flourished  until,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  the 
Pagan  Saxons  invaded  the  Island  and  drove  the  native 
Christians  from  the  Eastern  parts  to  the  hill  country  of 
the  West,  chiefly  Wales  and  Cornwall.  Theon,  the  Bishop 
of  London,  and  Thadioc,  the  Bishop  of  York,  held  their 
Sees  manfully  till  a.  d.  587;  and  then,  when  their  flocks 
were  scattered  and  a  host  of  heathen  wolves  were  in  the 
fold,  "  when  London  sacrificed  to  Diana,  and  Westminster 
to  Apollo,"  they  also  fled  and  followed  their  brethren  to 
Wales,  where  their  Church  still  lives. 


5.  "To  Britons  it  seemed  unbecoming  [to  have  their  expenses  paid],  eo,. 
declining  the  public  bounty,  they  preferred  to  live  at  their  own  expense." 

6.  See  Haddan  and  Stubb's  "Councils  and  Ecclesiastical  Documents"  (Vol- 
I.,  pp.  3-21). 


CHAPTER  XV. 


ANGLO-CATHOLICISM  ;    OR,    THE    MAKING    AND    ESTABLISHING 
OF   THE    PRESENT   NATIONAL   CHURCH    OF   ENGLAND. 

"It  is  of  paramount  importance  to  remember  the  organic  identity  of  the 
Church  of  England  before  and  after  the  Reformation."— Bis/iop  Forbes. 


FROM  the  year  587,  when  the  Archbishops  of  London 
and  York  fled  to  Wales,  to  the  year  597,  when  Augus- 
tine, the  Apostle  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  first  set  foot  in  Can- 
terbury, Christianity  was  almost  totally  extinct  in  England 
proper.  In  Wales,  Cumberland,  and  Cornwall,  however, 
our  dear  old  Church  was  still  strong,  and  numbered  more 
bishops  and  clergy  than  she  does  to-day  in  those  same 
parts.  Moreover,  her  daughter,^  the  Church  of  Ireland, 
and  her  grand-daughter,^  the  Church  of  Scotland,  were  in 

1.  Ireland  was  converted  mainly  by  St.  Patrick,  a  native  of  North  Britain, 
the  son  of  a  clergyman,  ordained  by  French  Bishops,  A.  D.  441.  He  fixed  his  See 
at  Armagh,  which  is  to  this  day  the  Primal  See  of  the  Irish  Church.  He  also 
ordained  the  first  Bishop  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  He  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the 
Bishop  of  Rome;  but  was  as  free  from  all  Romish  error  as  his  successor,  the 
present  Archbishop  of  Armagh.  The  Bishop  of  Rome  found  it  harder  to  usurp 
dominion  over  the  Irish  Church  than  any  other  in  Western  Europe,  and  was  not 
even  allowed  to  confer  the  "  pall "  on  any  Irish  Archbishop  till  A.  D.  1151. 

2.  Scotland  was  mainly  converted  by  an  Irish  missionary,  St.  Columba,  in  A. 
D.  565,  though  British  missionaries  had  preached  the  Gospel  in  the  South  of  Scot- 
land more  than  a  century  before,  especially  St.  Ninian,  who  also  aided  in  evan- 
gelizing Ireland.  "The  first  legate  (from  Rome)  that  ever  appeared  in  Scotland 
was  John  of  Crema,  in  the  year  1125,  before  which  time  there  is  no  trace  to  be 
met  with  of  any  Papal  authority  in  this  country." — C.  I.  Lyon,  quoted  in  Coit's 
"  Early  Hist.  Christianity  in  Eng.,"  p.  157.  . 


126         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

full  and  loving  communion  with  their  British  Mother. 
These  three  Churches  of  the  Celtic  race,  Catholic,  inde- 
pendent,^ full  of  missionary  spirit,  knew  nothing  even  of 
that  mild  form  of  Latin  tyranny  and  Roman  centralization 
which  were  then  to  be  found  in  Western  Europe.  As  the 
learned  jurist,  Blackstone,  puts  it :  "The  British  Church, 
by  whomsoever  planted,  was  a  stranger  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  and  all  his  pretended  authority."     (Com.  iv.,  8.) 

Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  the  foremost  of  the  Saxon 
Kings,  had  married  a  Christian  princess,  Bertha,  a  daughter 
of  the  King  of  Paris.  She  brought  with  her  a  Gallic  bishop 
(Luidhard,  the  Bishop  of  Senlis)  and  staff  of  clergy  who 
maintained  Christian  worship  in  an  old  British  church  for 
some  twent^'-five  years  before  the  arrival  of  Augustine. 
She  was  thus  the  first  missionary  to  the  Saxons,  and  but 
for  her,  Augustine's  mission  would  have  been  of  very 
doubtful  success.  Gregory  himself,  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
who  sent  Augustine  to  England,  said  that  "next  to  God, 
England  was  indebted  to  her  for  its  conversion."  The  Ven- 
erable Bede  declares  that  the  Saxon  King  had  heard  of 
Christianity  from  his  wife  before  the  coming  of  Augus- 
tine ;  and  William  of  Malmsbury  testifies  that  the  exem- 
plary life  of  Bishop  Luidhard,  the  Queen's  chaplain,  had 
silently  allured  the  King's  heart  to  the  knowledge  of 
Christ. 

I  have  no  wish  to  disparage  the  good  work  done  by 
Augustine  or  any  other  Italian  missionaries  in  converting 
the  Anglo-Saxons  to  the  religion  of  Christ.     But  observe  : 

In  the  first  place,  had  they  done  all  the  work,  it  would 

3.  Dr.  Liugard  (Romanist)  says  of  the  Britons:  "Ttie  independence  of 
their  Church  was  the  chief  object  of  their  solicitude." 


AUTHORITY.  121 


not  have  made  the  English  Church  a  part  of  the  Italian 
Church,  much  less  have  committed  it  in  advance  to  doc- 
trines and  practices  which  were  then  undreamed  of  even 
in  Rome  itself.  The  distinctive  Romish  errors  were  then 
unknown.  Mariolatry  was  not  yet  in  its  infancy  ;  no  one 
believed  in  the  "Immaculate  Conception"  or  had  ever 
heard  of  it ;  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar  was  administered 
in  hoik  kinds  j  Ti'ansubstantiation  was  not  taught ;  and 
although  political  considerations  made  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
very  powerful  and  much  respected,  yet  so  far  from  his  hav- 
ing any  supremacy^  there  was  at  that  time  far  more  danger 
that  a  sort  of  "  papacy  "  or  universal  supremacy  would  be 
attached  to  the  Bishops  of  Constantinople,  one  of  whom, 
the  Patriarch  John,  had  just  then  assumed  the  title  of 
Universal  Bishop,  which  is  still  retained  by  his  successors. 
Gregory,  however,  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  begged  the  other 
Patriarchs  (viz.,  the  Bishops  of  Alexandria,  Antioch  and 
Jerusalem)  not  to  allow  such  a  title  to  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  ;  nor  would  he  allow  himself  to  be  called 
by  such  a  "  proud,  superstitious,  profane  and  blasphemous 
name  ""  contrary  to  the  Gospel  and  the  Canons.'"  "Who- 
ever," says  he,  "  calls  himself  a  Universal  priest,  or  desires 
to  be  so  called  is  the  forerunner  of  Anti- Christ.''''  The  Patri- 
arch of  Alexandria  replied  that  he  had  given  up  calling 
John  by  that  title,  "  as  you  have  commanded  me  "  {sicut 
jussistii),  and  in  his  letter  he  addressed  Gregory  himself  as 
'*  Universal  Pope  ; "  whereupon,  with  true  Catholic  humil- 
ity, Gregory  wrote  again  :  "  I  beg  that  you  will  not  speak 
of  my  commanding,  since  I  know  who  I  am  and  who  you 
are.  In  dignity  you  are  my  brother,  in  character  my  father. 
*    *    *     I  pray  your  most  sweet  holiness  to  address  me 


128         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHIfAN. 

no  more  with  the  proud  appellation  of  '  Universal  Pope,' 
since  that  which  is  given  to  another  beyond  what  reason 
requires,  is  subtracted  from  yourself.  If  you  style  me 
Universal  Pope,  you  deny  that  you  are  at  all  that  which 
you  own  me  to  be  universally.*  Away  with  words  which 
puff  up  vanity  and  wound  charity."  In  his  letter  to  John 
he  declares  Christ  to  be  the  "  Head  of  the  Universal 
Church." 

Plow  absurd,  therefore,  is  the  idea  that  Gregory  and 
Augustine  sought  to  commit  the  Saxons  to  anything  re- 
sembling Modern  Romanism.  When  Augustine  tried  to 
bring  the  British  Bishops — seven  of  whom  he  met  under 
the  "  Oak  "  of  Herefordshire — to  acknowledge  the  Bishop 
of  Rome,  it  was  not  as  being  "  the  Pope "  in  the  modern 
sense  of  that  perverted  title  (which  was  common  to  all 
Bishops  for  850  years)  ,^  but  as  having  a  certain  primacy 
of  honor,  or  at  the  most  only  a  metropolitical  jurisdiction 
which  Augustine  wished  to  extend  as  far  as  possible.  In- 
deed, as  late  as  1100,  Pascal  11.  claimed  to  be  Head  of  the 
Church  only  within  the  bounds  of  Europe. 

Gregory,  however,  was  a  strange  compound  ;  as  one  has 
said,  "  He  was  the  last  of  Rome's  good  Bishops,  and  the 
first  of  its  bad  ones."  While  he  disclaimed  any  right  to 
supremacy,  he  nevertheless  did  much  to  build  up  the 
Roman  power  in  Spain  and  Gaul ;  and  also,  in  direct  vio- 
lation of  the  Canons  of  the  General  Councils  which  he  had 

4.  The  Bishop  of  Alexandria  was  then  and  is  to  this  day  officially  styled, 
"The  Pope  and  Patriarch  of  the  Great  City  of  Alexandria,"  etc.  Pope  (Latin 
Papa)  means  only  Father,  and  corresponds  exactly  to  our  Episcopal  title, 
"Father  in  God." 

5.  Indeed,  it  was  as  late  as  A.  D.  1070,  that  Hildebrand,  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
decreed  that  he  alone  should  be  called  Pope,  See  Coit's  Earl.  Hist.  Christianity 
in  Eng.,  p.  170,  note. 


AUTHORITY.  129 


sworn  to  maintain,  he  presumed  to  give  Augustine  author- 
ity over  the  British  Bishops.  They,  of  course,  repelled 
his  interference  with  courteous  dignity  and  catholic  au- 
thority. 

Augustine  was  ordained  Bishop  by  Aetherius,  the  Bish- 
op of  Lyons  (who  derived  his  orders  through  Pothinus 
from  St.  John)  and  by  Virgilius,  the  Bishop  of  Aries 
(who  derived  his  through  Trophinus  from  St.  Paul),  and 
was  constituted  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Gregory  con- 
ferred on  him  the  pall,  a  white  woolen  scarf  with  purple 
crosses,  which  was  at  that  time  only  a  mark  oi  favor,  con- 
ferred witli  the  consent  of  the  Emperor,  and  not,  as  it 
afterwards  became,  a  badge  of  submission  to  Rome. 

But  whatever  were  the  claims,  admissible  and  inadmis- 
sible, which  Gregory  might  have  made  to  a  primacy  over 
the  Christianity  of  the  British  Isles,  provided  he  had  been 
the  author  of  it,  we  must  remember  that  only  a  small  part 
of  the  work  of  planting  Christianity  there  was  done  by 
the  Italian  Church.  Wales,  Cornwall,  and  Cumberland, 
with  many  Bishops  and  thousands  of  clergymen,  were  not 
indebted  to  Rome  ;  Ireland  and  Scotland  were  converted 
by  Celtic  missionaries,  and  so  was  the  larger  part  of  England 
proper;  I  mean  the  Anglo-Saxons.  All  that  Augustine 
and  other  Italian  missionaries  did  was  to  sow  the  seed  in 
Kent,  which  was  already  prepared  for  it  by  Queen  Bertha 
and  Bishop  Luidhard  (and  even  in  this  a  large  share  of 
the  work  was  done  by  the  Gallic  missionaries  who  accom- 
panied Augustine  as  interpreters),  and  in  Wessex,  and  indi- 
rectly also  in  East  Anglia.  All  the  rest  of  England  was 
converted  by  Celtic  missionaries,  indirectly  from  Wales, 
and  directly  from  Ireland  and  Scotland,  with  a  little  help 
from  France. 


130         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

One  gift,  however,  the  Roman  missionaries  gave  to  Eng- 
land, and  that  was  the  genius  of  thorough  organization, 
centering  in  the  See  of  Canterbury.  Augustine  was  con- 
secrated Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  597.  After  him 
came  five  Archbishops  who  ruled  only  a  part  of  the  Saxon 
Christians,  as  the  larger  portion  of  them  were  of  the  Celtic 
obedience. 

Meantime,  the  two  schools  of  Christians  in  the  Hep- 
tarchy were  being  drawn  nearer  together,  and  at  length 
agreed  to  unite  under  one  Archbishop.  Accordingly  they 
received  Theodore,  a  Greek,  born  in  the  city  of  Tarsus,  the 
birthplace  of  St.  Paul.  Under  him  the  English  Church 
was  welded  into  one  compact  organism,  long  before  Eng- 
land was  a  nation,  or  had  any  central  government. 

Theodore,  as  being  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church,  wae 
acceptable  to  the  British  party,  who  prided  themselves  on 
their  Oriental  Origin  ;  and  as  having  been  ordained  by 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  was  acceptable  to  the  Italian  party. 
The  magnitude  and  beneficence  of  his  work  cannot  be  too 
highly  appreciated.  He  held  the  first  general  Synod  of 
the  Saxon^  Church  at  Hertford,  a.  d.  673  ;  he  subdivided 
dioceses ;  he  was  instrumental  in  introducing  the  Greek 
parochial  system  with  resident  clergy  in  each  parish  ;  he 
introduced  ten  very  important  canons  of  Ancient  Coun- 
cils, which  he  had  brought  with  him  from  the  East ;  he 
arranged  to  a  large  extent  the  financial  system  of  the  Eng- 
hsh  Church  ;  in  fact,  he  established  a  united  Church  in 
England,  pure,  Catholic,  independent  —  the  same  which 
God  has  preserved  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  ages 

6.  Before  the  Saxon  invasion  there  had  been  at  least  twelve  such  Synods, 
under  the  British  Archbishops  of  London,  of  whom  there  were  fifteen. 


AUTHORITY.  131 


to  this  day ;  a  Church  which  was  never  established  by  the 
State,  or  by  any  act  of  Parliament, /or  it  antedates  the  State 
itself  by  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ;  '^  and  can  more  properly 
be  said  to  have  established  the  State,  than  to  have  been  estab- 
lished by  the  State.  Archdeacon  Churton  has  said  of  Theo- 
dore :  "  He  found  the  Church  divided,  and  left  it  united  ; 
he  found  it  a  missionary  Church  scarcely  fixed  in  more 
than  two  principal  provinces  ;  he  left  it  what  it  will  ever 
be,  while  the  country  remains  in  happiness  and  freedom, 
the  Established  Church  of  England." 

In  874,  the  Welsh  Church  acknowledged  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  by  the  year  1200  had  become  fully 
united  with  the  English  Church,  bringing  in  the  line  of 
Apostohc  Succession  of  the  old  British  Bishops,  and  those 
of  Gaul,  and  of  Jerusalem,  the  See  of  St.  James,  which 
the  second  General  Council  called  "The  Mother  of  All 
Churches." 


7.  "  The  unity  of  the  Chntch  in  England  was  the  pattern  of  the  unity  of  the 
state ;  the  cohesion  of  the  Church  was  for  ages  the  substitute  for  the  cohesion 
which  the  divided  nation  was  otherwise  unable  to  realize.  *  *  *  It  was  to  an 
extraordinary  degree  a  national  Church;  national  in  its  comprehensiveness  as 
wellasin  its  exclusiveness.  Englishmen  were  in  their  lay  aspects  Mercians  or 
West  Saxons;  only  in  their  ecclesiastical  relations  could  they  feel  themselves 
fellow-countrymen  and  fellow-subjects."— Stubb's  Constitutional  History,  Vol. 
I.,  Chap,  viii.,  "The  Anglo-Saxon  Church." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  NEVER  THE  ROMAN  CHURCH. 

"The  only  logical  basis  of  Anglicanism  is  the  maintenance  of  the  Identitt," 
—Bishop  Forbes. 

IT  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that,  before  the  Refor- 
mation, the  Church  in  England  was  the  Roman  Church, 
and  after  the  Reformation  the  English  Church.  It  was 
always  the  same  English  Church  from  the  time  England 
received  Christianity,  and  long  before  the  English  were  a 
nation.  Its  legal  name  was  the  English  Church — Ecclesia 
Anglicana — and  neither  its  name  nor  its  organization,  nor 
the  essentials  of  its  faith  and  worship,  have  ever  been 
changed.  In  the  reign  of  King  Alfred,  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land leased  a  piece  of  property  to  the  Crown  for  999  years. 
A  few  years  ago  the  term  of  the  lease  expired,  and  the 
property  reverted  to  the  present  Church  of  England  as 
being  the  identical  corporation  which  leased  the  land  a 
millennium  before. 

But  all  this  is  not  to  deny  that  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  English  Church  became  corrupt  in  many  ways ;  and 
by  a  series  of  successful  encroachments  on  the  part  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  backed  by  the  "  Forged  Decretals," 
by  the  superstition  of  the  times,  and  by  the  vices  of  some 


AUTHORITY.  1.33 


of  the  kings,  was  gradually  brought,  to  a  considerable  ^ 
extent,  under  the  yoke  of  Italy.  Thus  a  reformation  be- 
came necessary  in  order  to  free  and  purify  the  English 
Church.     Let  me  illustrate  : 

Napoleon  the  Great  extended  his  imperial  usurpation 
over  the  kingdom  of  Prussia  ;  but  Prussia  was  still  Prus- 
sia, and  retained  her  own  government  and  royal  succes- 
sion. By  and  by  Prussia  freed  herself  from  Napoleon's 
tyranny.  Did  that  make  her  a  new  nation?  Was  she 
not  the  same  old  kingdom  that  she  was  before  ?  Or,  to 
bring  the  matter  nearer  home,  here  in  North  America  are 
two  sister  Churches,  the  Church  in  the  United  States,  and 

1.  Says  the  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Rich,  in  "The  Examination  Examined:"  "In 
England,  'from  before  King  John' — say,  from  the  Norman  Conquest — 'to  the 
Reformation,'  papal  encroachments  by  degrees  reached  the  point  where  they  be- 
came intolerable.  But  never  at  any  time  did  the  papal  sway  in  Britain  attain 
such  proportions  that  we  can  rightly  speak  of  it  as  absolute- 

Plainly  it  was  not  absolute  when  the  Norman  William  laid  down  the  law  that 
no  papal  legate  should  set  foot  on  English  soil  without  the  royal  permission. f 

Nor  when  his  son  William  Rufus  (as  the  ancient  chronicler,  Matthew  Paris, 
relates)  declared  that  no  Bishop  or  Archbishop  of  the  English  Church  was  sub- 
ject to  the  Pope.§ 

Nor  when  the  statute  De  AsportatU  Rsligiosorum  (35  Edw.  I,)  was  enacted, 
forbidding  that  the  revenues  of  monasteries  and  other  religious  houses,  held  by 
papal  ecclesiastics,  should  be  carried  out  of  the  kingdom.  || 

Nor  when  by  the  statutes  of  Provisors  (25  and  38  Edw.  III.,  13  Rich.  II.,  and 
2  Henry  IV.)  it  was  ordered  that  any  English  ecclesiastic  obtaining  from  the 
Pope  a  nomination  to  any  benefice,  abbey,  or  priory  in  the  realm  of  England, 
shall  be  outlawed.  'And  any  man  may  do  with  him  as  with  an  enemy  of  our 
Sovereign  Lord  the  King  and  his  realm. '![ 

Nor  when  the  celebrated  statutes  of  Prtcmunire  were  enacted  (37  Edw.  III., 
and  16  Rich.  II.),  restraining  all  British  subjects  from  appealing  to  the  Papal 
authority  or  attempting  to  act  under  it.** 

Nor  when  the  Parliament  of  1399  declared  that  "  in  all  time  past  the  crown 
and  realm  of  England  had  been  so  free  that  neither  Pope  nor  any  other  outside 
the  realm  had  a  right  to  meddle  therewith. "tt 

i  Stubbs'  Constitutional  Tlistory,  I.,  p.  310. 

§  Quoted  in  Wordsworth's  "Theoph.  Ang.,"  p.  162. 

1  Gibson's  Codex,  p.  1222.  1  Gibson's  Codex,  pp.  74,  81,  83  and  87. 

**  Gibson's  Codex,  pp.  80,  86.  tt  Stubbs,  iii.,  -JOS. 


134  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


the  Church  in  Canada.  Suppose  our  "  Presiding  Bishop  " 
should,  by  a  system  of  shrewd  and  unscrupulous  aggres- 
sion— such  as  bribing  the  Governors  of  Canada,  and  circu- 
lating skillfully  forged  documents  which  deceived  many 
of  the  Canadians  into  believing  that  our  Presiding  Bishop 
really  had  an  ancient  and  divine  right  to  the  obedience  of 
all  Canadians — usurp  dominion  over  the  Canadian  Church. 
Suppose  the  Canadian  Church  was  thus  forced,  against 
her  own  interests  and  honor,  to  submit  to  this  foreign 
interference,  but  all  the  while  kept  up  a  protest,  maintained 
her  old  name,  and  her  own  prayer  book,  and  her  own  succes- 
sion of  bishops,  and  her  own  diocesan  and  Provincial 
Synods,  would  she  really  cease  to  be  the  same  old  Church 
of  Canada  ?  And  if  after  a  time  she  should  find  out  that 
she  had  been  originally  independent,  and  so  should  simply 
decide  that  the  great  American  Bishop  had  no  just  au- 
thority over  her,  and  should  find  herself  strong  enough  to 
resist  his  interference,  would  that  make  her  a  new  or  dif- 
ferent Church  ?  Would  it  sever  her  historic  continuity  ? 
Would  it  break  her  fellowship  with  the  Ai30stles  ?  Not 
at  all.  Now,  this  was  precisely  the  case  of  our  own 
Church,  as  she  was  gradually  brought  under  the  dominion 
of  the  Bishop  of  Rome — struggling  manfully  the  while 
against  his  usurpation,  and  at  last  throwing  it  off.  Surely 
there  was  no  making  of  a  new  Church.  If  a  man  is  en- 
slaved and  escapes  from  bondage,  he  is  the  same  man  ;  if 
he  is  taken  sick  and  recovers,  he  is  the  same  person  ;  if  a 
chariot  gets  covered  with  mud,  and  is  washed,  it  is  the 
same  chariot. 

In  the  Arabian  tale,  "  Sinbad  the  Sailor,"  after  his  fifth 
voyage,  was  living  on  an  island,  when  a  monster,  called 


AUTHORITY,  135 


the  "Old  Man  of  the  Sea,"  dropped  down  upon  his 
shoulders,  and  rode  poor  Sinbad  almost  to  death.  By 
and  by  Sinbad  made  the  Old  Man  drunk  with  wine,  and, 
throwing  him  ofif,  was  free  again.  Sinbad  the  Sailor  was 
Sinbad  the  Sailor  before  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea  mounted 
him  ;  he  was  Sinbad  the  Sailor  while  the  Old  Man  of  the 
Sea  was  on  his  back  ;  and  he  was  the  same  Sinbad  the 
Sailor  after  he  had  cast  him  ofif.  Our  Church,  in  like  man- 
ner, was  on  an  Island.  The  Old  Man  of  the  Papal  See  [for- 
give the  paronomasza]  jumped  upon  our  Church  and  rode 
it  like  a  beast  of  burden.  Like  Sinbad,  we  threw  him  ofif ; 
we  bathed  and  refreshed  ourselves  ;  but  (thank  God)  we 
remained  the  same  old  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church, 
without  losing  our  Orthodox  Faith,  our  Apostolic  Succes- 
sion and  Fellowship,  our  historic  continuity,  our  lawful 
Sacraments  and  Worship,  or  our  divine  jurisdiction  and 
authority. 

Until  the  Norman  Conquest  (a.  d.  1066),  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  had  very  little  authority  over  the  English  Church. 
In  the  seventh  century,  Wilfrid,  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
was  the  first  English  Churchman  to  appeal  to  Rome.  The 
Roman  Bishop  sustained  him,  and  pronounced  eternal 
anathemas  on  all  who  should  refuse  to  abide  by  his  decis- 
ion. But  he  was  dealing  with  Englishmen,  not  with  the 
efieminate  races  of  Southern  Europe.  The  King  of  Wes- 
sex  convened  a  synod  which  ruled  that  Wilfrid's  appeal  to 
Rome  was  a  public  offense,  and  cast  him  into  prison.  At 
the  same  time,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  refused  to 
notice  a  summons  from  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to  attend  a 
council. 

After  Wilfrid  had  been  set  at  liberty;  and  allowed  to 


136         REA80NS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

return  to  his  diocese,  through  the  kindly  mediation  of  the 
Bishop  of  London,  he  again  appealed  to  Rome  on  the  same 
question — the  division  of  his  diocese.  For  this  second 
offense  against  the  authority  of  the  English  Church  he 
was  deposed  and  excommunicated,  and  the  sentence  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  set  at  naught. 

When  St.  Cuthbert  was  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  his 
friend  Winfrid  ("St.  Boniface  "),  an  Englishman  who  had 
converted  a  large  part  of  Germany,  advised  him  to  bring 
the  English  Church  under  the  authority  of  Rome,  as  he 
claimed  he  had  done  with  the  Church  in  Germany. 

In  the  first  place,  this  proves  that  the  Church  was  not 
already  in  submission  to  Rome  ;  and,  in  the  second  place, 
when  St.  Cuthbert — pleased  with  the  idea — called  a  coun- 
cil of  the  English  Church,  at  Clovesho,  a.  d.  747,  and  pro- 
posed, as  an  entering  wedge,  that  difficult  cases  in  the 
English  ecclesiastical  courts  should  be  referred  to  Rome, 
'*the  Council  refused  to  compromise  the  dignity  of  the 
Church,  and  the  Archbishop  was  declared  the  Supreme 
head." 

In  the  eighth  century,  when  the  great  controversy  about 
'*  image  worship  "  was  agitating  the  whole  Church,  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  declared  in  favor  of  the  semi-idolatry  ;  but 
the  English,  so  far  from  owning  his  supremacy,  stood  out 
boldly  against  his  decree,  and,  in  company  with  the  Galil- 
ean Church,  sided  with  the  Greeks. 

The  Bishop  of  Rome,  of  course,  as  being  the  foremost 
Prelate  and  the  only  Patriarch  in  the  West,  was  justly  re- 
spected for  his  office,  and  accorded  a  primacy  of  honor. 
But  Roman  ambition  was  leading  to  the  gradual  submis- 
sion and  subjugation  of  the  leading  provinces  and  dioceses 


AUTHORITY.  137 


of  Europe  ;  and  during  the  unhappy  reign  of  Offa — the 
most  powerful  of  the  Saxon  Kings — the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
like  the  camel  in  the  fable,  got  his  front  feet  within  the 
door  of  the  English  Church.  Offa  was  a  very  cruel  and 
licentious  king,  and  being  at  variance  with  the  Arch- 
bishop, he  determined  to  elevate  the  diocese  of  Lichfield 
into  an  archbishopric  in  his  own  kingdom.  Accordingly, 
by  offering  the  Bishop  of  Rome  a  vast  6n6e,  which  he  was 
base  enough  to  accept,  he  succeeded  in  getting  the  "pall" 
for  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield  (which,  however,  remained  an 
archdiocese  for  only  fifteen  years).  In  bestowing  the  pall, 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  made  the  first  notable  aggression  on 
the  liberties  of  the  English  Church.  He  insisted  that 
Offa  should  receive  two  Roman  legates,  and  allow  them,  in 
spite  of  the  protest  of  the  Primate,  to  hold  a  council  in 
England.  It  was  a  small  thing  in  itself,  but  a  had  prece- 
dent. 

The  second  aggression  was  brought  about  in  this  way  : 
Offa,  toward  the  end  of  his  life,  to  atone,  forsooth,  for  his 
grievous  crimes,  established  a  tax  of  one  penny  a  year  on 
every  family  in  his  kingdom,  to  be  sent  to  Rome.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  "  Peter's  Pence  "  (a.  d.  855). 

The  part  played  by  that  wicked  King  Henry  VIII.  in 
freeing  the  Church  of  England  from  Roman  tyranny,  is 
thus  well  offset  by  the  fact  that  an  equally  wicked  king 
was  the  means  of  opening  the  way  for  that  tyranny  seven 
hundred  years  before. 

Meantime,  the  "  False  Decretals,"  which  were  forged 
about  A.  D.  836,  claiming  that  Christ  had  constituted 
Rome  the  Head  of  the  Church,  etc.,  were  doing  their  pes- 
tilent work  throughout  Europe,  and  opening  the  way  for 


188         BEA80N'8  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAIT. 

further  encroachments  on  the  divine  Uberties  of  the 
Anglo-Catholic  Church. 

All  scholars,  Roman  and  Protestant,  now  admit  that 
these  decretals  were  only  a  "  clumsy  forgery."  Doctor 
Fulton,  in  a  thoughtful  and  suggestive  note,  says  of  them  : 
"  They  might  well  be  called  the  most  prodigious  disgrace 
of  Christian  literature,  of  which  a  history,  and  a  complete 
translation,  would  be  the  most  crushing  reply  to  the  mod- 
ern Papal  pretensions." 2 

Just  before  the  Norman  Conquest,  two  men,  Robert  and 
Stigand,  claimed  the  Archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  Rob- 
ert, like  Wilfrid  four  hundred  years  before,  appealed  to 
Rome,  being  the  second  English  Bishop  to  do  so.  The 
Bishop  of  Rome  sustained  him,  but  the  English  Church 
scorned  the  foreign  prelate's  interference,  and  Stigand  re- 
mained Archbishop. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  favored  Wil- 
liam of  Normandy  in  his  conquest  of  England,  for  it 
seemed  sure  to  bring  the  English  Church  under  Roman 
dominion.  Stigand  and  many  of  the  Saxon  bishops  were 
removed  by  William  and  Normans  put  in  their  places. 
Lanfranc  was  made  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  ;  and  was, 
by  the  way,  the  first  English  bishop  to  teach  the  doctrine 
of  Transubstantiation.  Both  William  and  Lanfranc,  how- 
ever, resisted  Rome  in  many  ways.  William  was  the 
only  king  in  Europe  who  dared  stand  out  against  Gregory 
VII.,  the  most  powerful  of  all  Roman  bishops.  He  re- 
fused to  do  fealty  for  his  kingdom  ;  and  he  allowed  the 
payment  of  "  Peter's  Pence  "  only  as  a  voluntary  almSt  not 

2.     Am.  Ch.  Review,  Jan..  1885,  p.  293. 


AUTHORITY.  139 


as  a  right.  When  Gregory  summoned  all  the  English 
bishops  to  a  Council,  and  threatened  William  with  the 
"Wrath  of  St.  Peter"  anless  they  came,  not  a  single 
bishop  obeyed  the  summons.  When  he  declared  all  the 
married  clergy  of  the  English  Church  excommunicated, 
unless  they  put  away  their  wives,  the  English  Church 
held  a  Council,  a.  d.  1076,  and  refused  to  allow  the  new 
regulation  except  in  the  case  of  the  cathedral  and  collegi- 
ate clergy,  who  were  required  to  put  away  their  wives.^ 
When  the  Bishop  of  Rome  summoned  Archbishop  Lan- 
iranc  to  Italy,  on  the  penalty  of  deposition  and  "  severance 
fi-om  the  grace  of  St.  Peter,"  if  he  did  not  arrive  within 
four  months,  Lanfranc  took  no  notice  of  the  threat,  and 
nothing  was  done.  Rome's  power,  though  still  increasing, 
was  far  from  complete.  Urban  II.,  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
A.  D.  1100,  declared  that  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
ought  to  be  treated  as  an  equal,  and  called  him  "  the  Pope 
and  Patriarch  of  another  world." 

The  Council  of  Clarendon,  a.  d.  1164,  forbade  all  appeals 
to  Rome  without  the  King's  consent.  Surely  every  one  is 
familiar  with  the  bold  anti-Roman  stand  taken  by  Rich, 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  1234 ;  by  Grostete,  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  1235  ;  and  by  Sewell,  the  Archbishop 
of  York,  1265,  against  whom  Rome  fulminated  a  vain  and 
unheeded  excommunication. 

Italian  aggression  reached  its  climax  in  the  reign  of 
King  John  (1199-1216),  when  John  placed   the  whole 

3.  English  clergy  (except  the  monastic  orders)  were  generally  married  up 
Ho  A.  D.  1103.  After  that,  though  prohibited  by  law,  it  was  still  common,  pro- 
vided they  paid  a  special  tax  to  the  king.  They  were  never  required  to  take  a 
vow  of  celibacy.  See  Hore's  Eighteen  Centuries,  p.  136;  and  Jeuning's  Ecd. 
ji.ng.,  pp.  76-7.  The  civil  law  forbidding  the  marriage  of  the  clergy  was  not  re- 
pealed tin  long  after  the  Reformation,  in  the  reign  of  James  I. 


140  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

realm  at  the  feet  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  which,  of  course^ 
he  had  no  right  to  do.  The  whole  country  rose  against 
him,  clergy,  barons,  people,  calling  themselves  "  The  Army 
of  God  and  the  Church."  "It  was,"  says  Hore,  "the 
army  not  only  of  the  barons  against  the  King,  but  of  the 
Church  against  the  Pope."  On  that  memorable  15th  of 
June,  1215,  they  forced  the  King  to  sign  Magna  Charta^ 
which  was  the  work  of  Stephen  Langdon,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  the  first  article  of  which  declares: 
*'  The  Church  op  England  shall  be  free,  and  have  her 
rights  entire  and  her  liberties  uninjured."  ^  The  Bishop 
of  Rome  was,  of  course,  in  a  fury.  He  swore  :  "  By  St. 
Peter,  this  outrage  shall  not  go  unpunished;"  declared 
the  charter  null  and  void  ;  and  commanded  the  Arch- 
bishop to  excommunicate  the  barons — which,  however, 
the  patriotic  Churchman  refused  to  do.  The  Roman 
usurper  had  stretched  his  power  too  far  ;  it  snapped  ;  the 
chai'ter  remained  ;  the  Archbishop  required  the  new  King, 
Henry  III.,  to  sign  it;  it  has  since  been  ratified  thirty- 
two  times,  and,  despite  its  Roman  nullification,  has  ever 
since  been  a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  England. 
Two  reforms  were  now  necessary: 

(a)  To  free  the  English  State  from  the  Roman  claim  of 
sovereignty;  and 

(b)  To  free  the  English  Church  from  the  Roman  claim 
of  supremacy. 

The  freeing  of  the  State  was  accomplished  in  1365,  when 
the  king,  clergy,  lords,  and  commons  declared  that  John 
had  no  right  to  make  England  a  fief  of  Rome,  and  forbade 
the  payment  of  Peter's  pence. 

4.  "Inprimis  *  *  *  quod  Anglicana  Ecclesia  libera  sit,  et  liabeat  jura 
sua  integra,  et  libertates  suas  lllEesai?." 


AUTHORITY.  141 


The  freeing  of  the  English  Church  was  a  long  and  hard 
process.  Various  laws  had  from  time  to  time  been  enacted 
against  the  Roman  usurpation;  and  in  1351,  the  "  Statute 
of  Provisors  "  (followed  by  the  statutes  of  "  Praemunire," 
in  1353, 1365,  and  1393),  left  scarce  a  vestige  of  the  Roman 
BishojD's  power  in  ©ur  Church.  The  legal  freeing  of  our 
Church  by  these  famous  statutes  of  the  fourteenth  century 
is  not  sufficiently  appreciated.  By  them  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  was  forbidden  to  appoint  to  any  bishopric  or  other 
Church  dignity  in  England.  If  he  did  so,  the  benefice 
was  declared  vacant,  and  the  right  of  nomination  lapsed 
to  the  king.  These  statutes  also  prohibited  carrying  any 
suits  to  the  Roman  court  ]  and  forbade,  under  penalty  of 
confiscation  of  property  and  perpetual  imprisonment,  any 
one  to  procure  from  Rome,  or  elsewhere  outside  of  Eng- 
land, any  appointments,  bulls,  excommunications,  or  the 
like. 

Thus,  m  theory,  the  Roman  yoke  was  cast  off,  but  practi- 
cally two  things  were  needed  in  order  to  carry  out  the 
theory:  First,  the  removal  of  the  popular  superstition  that, 
after  all,  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  a  sort  of  divine  right 
over  all  churches  ;  and,  secondly,  a  king  bold  enough  and 
strong  enough  to  break  with  the  Triple  Tyrant,  and  say : 

"That  no  Italian  priest  shall  tithe  or  toll  in  our  dominions," 

As  to  the  first,  the  illusion  was  dispelled,  the  prestige  of 
Rome  broken,  by  the  vices  and  quarrels  of  the  Bishops  of 
Rome ;  by  the  removal  of  the  Roman  Court  to  Avignon, 
where  for  seventy  years  the  Bishops  of  Rome  were  mere 
puppets  of  the  French  kings  ;  and  by  the  fifty  years  of 
""rival  popes,"  cursing  and  excommunicating  each  other. 
The  Council  of  Pisa  (1409)  deposed  and  excommunicated 


142         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

both  of  them,  and  elected  a  third  bishop  of  Rome,  The 
Council  of  Constance  (1415)  deposed  the  wicked  John 
XXII.,  and  the  Council  of  Basle  (1431)  deposed  Eugenius 
IV.  These  "  Reforming  Councils,"  as  they  are  called, 
asserted  the  superiorit}'-  of  a  Council  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rome.  For  a  while  it  looked  as  if  the  whole  Western 
Church  might  be  reformed  on  x^nglican  principles.  All 
Europe  clamored  for  a  reformation.  Over  250  books  were 
written  by  Western  Ecclesiastics  pleading  for  the  correction 
'of  Roman  abuses. 

The  fall  of  Constantinople  (1453)  sent  a  host  of  learned 
Greek  Churchmen  to  the  West,  and  opened  the  eyes  of 
English  Churchmen  to  the  fact  that  the  Greek  Church  got 
on  well  enough,  as  it  had  from  the  beginning,  without  sub- 
mitting to  the  Roman  Pontiff ;  while  the  revival  of  Greek 
learning  opened  patristic  treasures  long  forgotten,  and  the 
increased  study  of  Holy  Scripture  was  bearing  fruit  in  a 
widespread  longing  for  light  and  liberty. 

It  was  only  needed  that  a  bold  king  should  take  the  first 
step.^  In  the  providence  of  God  Who  maketh  even  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,  Henry  VIII.  was  the  man 
for  the  hour. 

As  to  Henry's  character,  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves. 
It  was  about  as  bad  as  it  could  be,  while  his  confiscations 
of  our  Church  property  make  him  the  greatest  Church- 

5.  "If  any  man  will  look  down  along  the  line  of  early  English  history,  he 
will  see  a  standing  contest  between  the  rulers  of  this  land  and  the  Bishops  of 
Rome.  The  Crown  and  Church  of  England,  with  a  steady  opposition,  re- 
sisted the  entrance  and  encroachment  of  the  secularized  ecclesiastical  power 
of  the  Pope  in  England.  The  last  rejection  of  it  was  no  more  than  a  successful 
effort  after  many  a  failure  in  struggles  of  the  like  kind."— Jtfanning  "On  the- 
Unity  of  the  Church.''' 


AUTHORITY.  143 


rdbher  that  ever  lived.  God,  however,  used  him  like  Cyrus 
of  old. 

After  the  King's  quarrel  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  Parlia- 
ment and  Convocation  passed  stringent  laws  against  Roman 
interference.  The  experimentum  crucis  was  made,  the  "  Gor- 
dian  Knot  "  was  cut  in  June,  1534,  when  the  following  res- 
olution was  submitted  to  the  bishops  of  both  provinces  in 
Convocation  assembled  :  '■^Resolved  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
has  no  greater  jurisdiction  conferred  on  him  by  God,  in  this  king- 
dom, than  any  other  foreign  bishop."  ^ 

All  the  bishops,  with  the  single  exception  of  Fisher, 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  assented  to  the  proposition ;  the 
clergy  and  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
agreed  with  the  bishops,  and  the  King  and  Parliament 
gave  the  governmental  sanction.  Thus  oui  Mother  Church 
reasserted  her  ancient  Catholic  independence.  The  Eng- 
lish bishops  in  taking  their  oath  of  office  were  no  longer 
allowed  to  speak  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  "  the  Pope," 
but  simply  as  "  the  Bishop  of  Rome,"  and  "  fellow  brother," 
— "  as  the  old  manner  of  the  most  ancient  bishops  hath 
been."'^ 

All  that  was  done  in  the  way  of  reform,  however,  under 
Henry  VIII.,  and  his  son  Edward  VI.,  was  undone  under 
Queen  Mary,  1553  to  1558.  Mary  was  a  sincere  and  big- 
oted Romanist,  and  succeeded  in  bringing  Parliament  and 
Convocation  to  rescind  the  recent  acts  against  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  to  restore  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, etc. 

6.  '  tiuod  Romanus  Episcopus  Bon  habet  majorem  juriedictionem  sibi  a 
Deo  collatam  in  hoc  regno  quam  aliusquivis  externus  Episcopus." — Journal  of 
Convocatinn. 

7.  Heart's Eccl.  liecs.  quoted  in  Coits  "Early  Hist.,"  p.  171. 


144         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

This  second  subjugation  of  the  English  Church  to  Rome, 
achieved  in  a  few  weeks  and  lasting  less  than  five  years, 
was  a  sort  of  miniature  reproduction  of  the  previous 
usurpation  which  extended  over  several  centuries.  It  was 
equally  unjust,  and  was  as  justly  abolished. 

Mary  illegally  removed  and  put  to  death  a  number  of 
the  bishops,  and  in  fact  burned  to  the  stake  some  280  per- 
sons for  their  religious  opinions.  Still  nothing  was  done 
to  break  the  continuity  of  the  English  Church.  Pole,  a 
cousin  of  the  Queen,  was  elected  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, but  would  not  be  consecrated  while  his  predecessor 
in  office,  the  reforming  Archbishop,  was  alive.  The  day 
after  Cranmer's  execution,  Pole  was  consecrated  by  several 
English  bishops. 

When  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne,  she  as  a  good  Catho- 
lic, used  all  her  influence  to  save  the  English  Church,  on 
the  one  hand,  from  being  permanently  enslaved  to  Rome, 
and  on  the  other,  from  losing  any  of  the  essentials  of  true 
Catholicity.  We  have  already  seen  that  our  Church  at  the 
Reformation  invented  no  new  doctrines,  but  merely  re- 
tained the  three  Creeds,  the  Bible  and  the  general  beliefs 
of  the  Early  Church.  Did  she  also  at  this  crisis  in  her  his- 
tory, keep  the  Apostolic  Succession,  and  her  lawful  jurisdic- 
tion? In  other  words:  Is  the  Anglo-Catholic  Church  to- 
day (a)  a  Protestant  Sect?  (having  neither  ministry  nor 
jurisdiction),  or  (b)  a  schism?  (having  the  ministry  but  no 
jurisdiction),  or  (c)  a  Catholic  Church  —  having  not  only 
the  Faith,  Sacraments,  and  worship,  but  also  that  Apos- 
tolic Fellowship  which  comes  of  valid  orders  and  lawful 
jurisdiction  ? 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

ANGLICAN    ORDERS. 

"As  the  Reformation  did  not  find  the  English  bigoted  Papists,  so  neither 
was  it  conducted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  malie  them  zealous  Protestants."— 
Macaulay's  Essays,  "Burleigh  and  His  Times." 

IN  this  sentence  Macaula}',  despite  his  inability  to  under- 
stand theology  or  appreciate  ecclesiastical  movements, 
stumbles  on  an  important  truth,  viz.:  that  between  Papist 
and  Protestant  stands  the  true  Catholic  ;  and  to  make  Eng- 
lish Christians  true  Catholics  as  distinguished  from  both  Pap- 
ists and  Protestants,  was  the  object  of  the  English  Refor- 
mation. Queen  Elizabeth  struck  the  key-note  of  Anglo- 
Catholic  independence  when  she  replied  to  those  English 
bishops  who  requested  her  to  continue  the  arrangements 
which  Queen  Mary  had  made  with  Rome  :  "  Our  records 
show  that  the  papal  jurisdiction  over  this  realm  was  usurpation. 
To  no  power  whatever  is  my  crown  subject  save  to  that  of 
Christ  the  King  of  Kings.  I  shall,  therefore,  regard  as 
enemies,  both  to  God  and  myself,  all  such  of  my  subjects 
as  shall  henceforth  own  any  foreign  or  usurped  authority 
within  my  realm." 

All  the  bishops,  except  Bonner  of  London,  attended  the 
Coronation  of  Elizabeth,  January  13,  1559.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  had  breathed  his  last  within  a  few 


146         REASONS  FOB  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

hours  of  Queen  Mary's  death.  Nine  other  bishops  had 
died.  Indeed,  out  of  the  twenty-seven  dioceses  of  our 
Church,  thirteen  were  canonically  vacant,^  fourteen  were 
canonically  filled.  Of  the  fourteen  bishops,  nine  were  de- 
prived of  their  sees  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  to  the 
new  Queen  ;  five  were  favorable  to  reform,  together  with 
several  sufiragan  Bishops  ;  moreover,  there  were  the  Irish 
bishops,  who,  almost  to  a  man,  accepted  the  Reformation. 

Of  course,  ordination  by  one  bishop,  though  irregular, 
would  have  been  valid, ^  but  no  such  desperate  expedient 
was  necessary. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  elect,  confirm  and  con- 
secrate a  new  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  Dean  and 
Cathedral  Chapter  petitioned  the  Queen  to  allow  them  to 
elect  an  Archbishop  in  the  room  of  Archbishop  Pole,  lately 
deceased.  To  their  request  the  Queen  granted  the  usual 
Conge  cZ'  elire,  as  follows  : 

"The  Queen,  to  her  beloved  in  Christ,  the  Dean  and 
Chapter  of  the  Metropolitan  Church  of  Canterbury,  greet- 
ing :— 

"  On  your  part,  a  humble  supplication  has  been  made 
to  us,  that,  whereas  the  aforesaid  Church,  by  the  natural 
death  of  the  Most  Reverend  Father  and  Lord  in  Christ, 
the  Lord  Reginald  Pole,  Cardinal,  the  last  Archbishop 

1.  Turbcrville  of  Exeter,  Morgan  of  St.  David's,  Bourne  of  Bath  and  Wells, 
Heath  of  York,  and  probably  also  Scott  of  Chester  were  intruders  thrust  into  the 
sees  uncanonically  by  Queen  Mary,  while  the  lawful  occupants  of  the  sees  were 
still  living.    I  do  not  take  them  into  account. 

2.  The  first  Koman  Catholic  bishop  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  Dr.  Carroll,  had  but  one 
consecrator,  the  titular  Bishop  of  Eagal,  Dr.  Walmsley,  who  appears  to  have  had 
only  the  same  uncanonical  consecration  himself.  See  Hook's  Preface  to  Life  of 
Bp.  Hobart,  p.  25.  The  Swedish  and  the  "  Old  Catholic  "  Episcopates  also  come 
through  a  single  bishop 


AUTHORITY.  141 


thereof,  is  now  vacant  and  destitute  of  the  solace  of  a  pas- 
tor, we  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  grant  to  you  our 
fundatorial  License  to  elect  another  Archbishop  and  Pas- 
tor. We,  favourably  inclined  to  your  prayers  in  this 
matter,  have  thought  fit  to  grant  you  this  License.  Re- 
quiring that  you  may  elect  such  a  person  Archbishop  and 
Pastor,  who  may  be  devoted  to  God,  and  useful  and  faith- 
ful to  us  and  our  kingdom. 

"  In  testimony  of  which  thing,  etc.,  witness  the  Queen  at 
Westminster,  the  18th  day  of  July,  1559.  "^ 

The  Dean  and  Chapter  then,  "  according  to  the  ancient 
manner  and  laudable  custom  of  the  aforesaid  Church, 
anciently  used  and  inviolably  observed,"  chose  the  devout 
and  scholarly  Matthew  Parker,  Priest  and  Doctor  of  Divin- 
ity, August  Ist,  1559.  Parker  had  been  ordained  to  the 
Priesthood  according  to  the  Latin  Pontifical.  On  the  6th 
day  of  the  following  December,  the  Queen  issued  letters 
patent  to  six  bishops,  as  follows  : 

"  Elizabeth,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England,  France, 
and  Ireland,  Queen,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  etc.,  to  the 
Reverend  Fathers  in  Christ,  Anthony,  Bishop  of  Llandaff" ; 
William  Barlow,  sometime  Bishop  of  Bath,  now  elect  of 
Chichester ;  John  Scory,  sometime  Bishop  of  Chichester, 
now  elect  of  Hereford  ;  Miles  Coverdale,  sometime  Bishop 
of  Exeter  ;  John,  SuS'ragan,  of  Bedford  ;  John,  Sufii-agan, 
of  Thetford  ;  John  Bale,  Bishop  of  Ossary,  greeting  : — 

"  Whereas,  the  Archiepiscopal  See  of  Canterbury  being 
lately  vacant  by  the  natural  death  of  the  Lord  Reginald 


3.    RoWs  Patents,  1  Etiz.,  p.  6,  and  Rymer,  vol.  15,  p.  536,  quoted  in  Bailey's 
"  Defence  of  Holy  Orders  in  the  Church  of  England." 


148  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Pole,  Cardinal,  last  and  immediate  Archbishop  and  Pastor 
of  the  same,  upon  humble  petition  of  the  Dean  and  Chap- 
ter of  our  Cathedral  and  Metropolitan  Church  of  Christ,  at 
Canterbury,  we,  by  our  letters  patent,  have  granted  to  the 
same,  license  to  elect  for  themselves  another  Archbishop 
and  Pastor  of  the  See  aforesaid  ;  and  the  said  Dean  and 
Chapter,  by  virtue  of  our  aforesaid  license  obtained,  have 
elected  for  themselves  and  the  Church  aforesaid,  our  be- 
loved in  Christ,  Matthew  Parker,  D.  D.,  as  Archbishop 
and  Pastor.  We,  accepting  that  election,  have  granted  to 
the  said  election  our  royal  assent  and  also  favor,  and  this 
by  the  tenor  of  these  presents  we  signify  to  you:  Requir- 
ing and  strictly  commanding  you  by  the  faith  and  affec- 
tion in  which  you  are  held  by  us,  that  you,  or  at  least 
four  ^  of  you,  would  effectually  confirm  *  »  •  the 
aforesaid  election,  and  consecrate  the  said  Matthew  Parker, 
Archbishop  and  Pastor  of  the  Church  aforesaid,  and  per- 
form and  execute  all  and  singular  other  things  which 
belong  in  this  matter  to  your  pastoral  office,  according  to 
the  form  of  the  statutes  set  forth  and  provided.     •     *     * 

"  In  witness  whereof,  we  have  caused  these  our  letters  to 
be  made  patent. 

"Witness  ourselves  at  Westminster,  the  sixth  day  of 
December,  the  second  year  of  our  reign."  ^ 

Every  precaution  was  now  taken  that  the  new  Arch- 
bishop-elect—  the  successor  of  Archbishop  Pole,  the  sixty- 
eighth  Archbishop  in  unbroken  line  from  Augustine  — 

4.  It  is  a  civil  law  in  England  that  an  Episcopal  Ordination  must  be  per- 
formed by  an  Archbishop  and  at  least  two  bishops,  but  if  no  Archbishop  takes 
part,  then  by  at  least  four  bishops,  as  was  the  case  in  Parker's  Consecration. 

5.  Parker's  Register^  vol.  I.,  p.  3 ;  and  BolVs  CMpel,  quoted  by  Bailey,  p.  7. 


AUTHORITY.  149 


might  be  validly  and  lawfully  ordained.  On  the  9th  day  of 
the  same  month,  in  the  church  of  "  St.  Mary-le-Bow,"  Dr. 
Parker's  election  was  regularly  confirmed,  open  challenge 
being  made  for  any  one  to  show  reason  why  the  elect 
should  not  be  consecrated.  No  objection  was  made.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  Sunday,  the  17th  of  December,  1559,  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Archiepiscopal  Palace  at  Lambeth,  the  sol- 
emn and  sacramental  ceremony  of  Consecration  was  per- 
formed in  the  presence  of  bishops,  bishops-elect,  priests, 
royal  commissioners,  noblemen,  and  commoners. 

0  what  a  scene  was  that !  And  how  memorable  the  act 
which  saved  to  England's  venerable  Church  that  ministry 
of  grace  and  power,  which  Christ  had  ordained  ! 

The  chancel  of  the  chapel  was  beautifully  adorned.  At 
the  east  end  stood  the  altar,  at  the  north  side  of  which  was 
placed  the  Bishop's  throne.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing the  procession  entered  the  west  door  of  the  chapel  — 
the  Archbishop-elect,  vested  in  scarlet  cassock  and  hood, 
with  four  wax  torches  borne  before  him,  and  accompanied 
by  the  four  bishops,  who  were  to  unite  in  the  laying  on  of 
hands,  viz.:  William  Barlow,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells  ; 
John  Scory,  Bishop  of  Chichester  ;  Miles  Coverdale,  Bishop 
of  Exeter,  and  John  Hodgkins,  Bishop  Suffragan  of  Bed- 
ford. Of  these  four  bishops,  two  had  been  consecrated 
according  to  the  Latin  form  of  the  old  English  Ordinal  in 
the  days  of  Henry  VIIL,  and  two  according  to  the  Eng- 
lish form  of  the  Ordinal  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 

Weighing  my  words  with  care,  I  affirm  there  can  be  no 
more  doubt  that  these  four  prelates  were  lawful  Catholic 
bishops,  than  that  Anselm  or  Augustine,  Ignatius  or  St. 
John  were  partakers  of  the  Apostolic  ministry. 


150  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


Morning  Praj^er  is  now  said  by  Andrew  Peerson,  chap- 
lain of  the  Archbishop-elect.  The  Bishop  of  Chichester 
ascends  the  pulpit,  and  taking  as  his  text :  "  The  elders 
who  are  among  you  I  exhort  who  am  also  an  elder,"  he 
preaches  (as  the  old  Lambeth  register  has  it)  "  not  inele- 
gantly." Now  the  Bishops  withdraw  to  vest  for  the  Holy 
Communion,  and  return,  the  Archbishop-elect  in  the  sur- 
plice of  a  priest.  Bishop  Barlow,  the  Celebrant,  with  the 
archdeacons  of  Canterbury  and  Lincoln,  who  serve  at  the 
altar  as  deacon  and  sub-deacon,  in  gorgeous  copes  of  silk. 
After  the  Gospel  the  candidate  is  presented  ;  the  Queen's 
mandate  for  the  Consecration  is  read  ;  the  oath  of  office  is 
administered  ;  ^  the  people  are  bidden  to  pray  for  the  can- 

6.  In  the  oath,  after  declaring  that  the  Queen  is  the  only  "  Supreme  Gov- 
ernor of  Thys  Realme,  as  well  in  spiritnall  or  ecclesiastical  things  or  causes,  as 
temporal,"  come  the  words:  '•  And  that  no  foreign  prince,  person,  prelate.  State 
or  potentate,  hath,  or  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdiction,  power,  superioritie,  pre- 
eminence, or  authoritie  ecclesiasticall  or  spiritnall  within  this  realme."  It 
should  be  remembered  that  Elizabeth  never  took  the  title  of  "Head  of  the 
Church."  Henry  VIII.  took  it,  but  convocation  allowed  it  only  with  this  quali- 
fication :  As  far  as  the  law  of  Christ  alloweth.  It  was  abolished  in  1553  and 
never  revived. 

The  oath  of  supremacy  has  long  been  abolished.  The  present  oath  of  allegi- 
ance runs  thus:  "I  swear  that  I  will  be  faithful  and  bear  true  allegiance  to  Her 
Majesty  Queen  Victoria,  her  heirs  and  successors,  according  to  law." 

Even  Henry  VIII.  distinctly  repudiated  any  claim  to  spiritual  authority,  such 
as  pertains  to  Episcopal  and  Sacerdotal  functions.  All  that  Elizabeth  claimed 
was  the  ancient  privileges  of  the  Christian  Kings  of  England.  The  title  of  the 
law  of  I.  Eliz.  shows  this :  "  An  act  to  restore  to  the  Crown  the  ancient  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  estate,  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual,  and  abolishing  all  foreign  powers 
repugnant  to  the  same."  And  Elizabeth  distinctly  declared  :  "The  Crown  chal- 
lenged no  superiority  to  define,  decide,  or  determine  any  article  or  point  of  the 
christian  faith  or  religion;  or  to  change  any  right  or  ceremony  before  received 
and  observed  in  the  Catholic  Church."  Says  Bp.  Forbes:  "The  Crown  is  no 
more  the  head  of  the  Church  in  England  than  of  the  [Presbyterian]  kirk  in  Scot- 
land." 

Article  XXXVII.  says :  "We  give  not  to  our  Princes  the  ministering  either  of 
God's  word,  or  of  the  Sacraments;  *  *  *  but  that  only  prerogative  which  we 
see  to  have  been  given  always  to  all  godly  Princes,  in  Holy  Scripture,  by  God 
Himself,"  etc. 


AUTHORITY.  151 


didate  ;  Bishop  Barlow  sings  the  Litany,  the  choir  respond- 
ing. After  the  usual  questions  and  answers,  and  special 
prayers,  the  four  bishops  lay  their  apostolic  hands  on  the 
head  of  the  kneeling  priest,  each  one  of  them  saying  in  Eng- 
lish the  ancient  words  of  Consecration ;  and  Dr.  Parker 
rises  a  bishop  in  the  Church  of  God,  and  is  vested  in  the 
episcopal  robes.  No  part  of  this  important  transaction 
was  done  in  a  corner.  After  the  service  the  Archbishop 
gave  a  reception  in  his  palace  ;  and  that  night  he  made  the 
following  entry  in  his  private  diary,  which  is  still  preserved 
in  the  library  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge : 

"  Seventeenth  December,  in  the  year  1559,  I  was  conse- 
crated Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  A  lass  !  Alass  !  O  Lord, 
to  what  times  hast  thou  preserved  me  ?  Lo,  I  am  come 
into  deep  waters,  and  the  storm  hath  overwhelmed  me.  O 
Lord  I  am  oppressed,  undertake  for  me,  and  with  thy 
mighty  spirit  strengthen  me.  For  I  am  a  man,  both  of  a 
short  time  and  weak,"  etc. 

On  the  first  of  January,  the  new  Archbishop  was  en- 
throned in  the  cathedral,  after  which  he  was  placed  in  pos- 
session of  the  temporalities  of  his  see,  and  summoned  to 
his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

I  know  of  no  event  in  Anglo-Catholic  history  better  cer- 
tified than  the  Consecration  of  Parker.  I  give  here  a  list 
of  the  chief  documents  which  prove  the  fact  of  his  Conse- 
cration : 

"  a.  The  register  of  the  act  in  the  archives  of  Lambeth, 
written  in  the  same  hand  as  the  registers  of  Cranmer  and 
Pole,  and  attested  by  the  same  notaries  public  as  Pole's 
own  record. 


152  REASOIT'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

b.  A  contemporary  copy  of  part  of  this  register  in  the 
State  Paper  Office. 

c.  Another  contemporary  copy  of  the  register  in  the 
library  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge. 

d.  Parker's  autograph  note-book,  in  the  same  library, 
mentioning  his  Consecration  on  December  17,  1559. 

e.  The  casual  mention  of  the  fact,  as  an  item  of  news, 
in  tlie  contemporary  MS.  diary  of  Henry  Machyn,  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum. 

/.  The  contemporary  MS.  "  Zurich  Letters,"  testifying 
to  the  same  fact,  and  but  lately  discovered. 

g.  The  conduct  of  Bishop  Bonner,  in  his  suit  against 
Home,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  in  which  the  fact  of  Parker's 
Consecration  itself  was  allowed  by  Bonner. 

h.  The  precise  dove-tailing  of  the  event  into  the  long 
and  intricate  series  of  civil  (not  ecclesiastical)  documents 
required  by  the  State  in  evidence  of  Parker's  right  to  his 
barony,  revenues,  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  coer- 
cive jurisdiction  in  his  province. 

i.  The  manner  in  which  contemporary  writers,  such  as 
Camden,  Holinshed,  etc.,  take  the  matter  as  notorious  and 
undisputed." 

Against  all  this  overwhelming  evidence  one,  and  only 
one,  attack  has  been  made,  that  known  as  the  "  Nag's 
Head  Fable,"  which  must  be  briefly  and  candidly  no- 
ticed. 

In  the  year  1604,  forty-five  years  after  Parker's  Conse- 
cration in  Lambeth  Chapel,  a  wily  Jesuit,  named  Holy- 
wood,  published  a  pamphlet  in  which  he  claimed  to  have 
been  told  by  one  Thomas  Neal  (then  fourteen  years  dead) 
that  he,  peeping  through  a  key-hole  in  the  "  Nag's  Head  " 


AUTHORITY.  log 


tavern,  in  Cheapside,  saw  Scory  lay  his  hands  on  Parker, 
and  some  others,  who  in  turn  laid  their  hands  on  him  '^ 
and  thus  all  made  each  other  bishops  !  ! 

The  story  is  absurd  on  the  face  of  it ;  but,  like  the  Jew- 
ish fable  that  the  disciples  stole  the  body  of  Jesus  while 
the  watch  slept,  it  is  the  best  that  ingenious  malice  has 
been  able  to  devise  against  the  fact  of  Parker's  Consecra- 
tion. The  Earl  of  Nottingham,  and  others,  however,  who 
had  attended  the  Consecration  at  Lambeth,  were  still  liv- 
ing to  bear  vdtness  against  this  "  tale  of  foolery." 

I  cannot  forbear  to  transcribe  here,  from  Bailey's  "  De- 
fence of  Holy  Orders  "  (p.  30),  the  quaint  and  graphic 
record  of  the  effect  of  the  fable  on  King  James  I.  as  given 
by  William  Hampton,  in  1721  : 

•'  In  the  beginning  of  King  James  his  reigne,  there  came 
out  a  book  under  the  name  of  Sanders  with  the  story  of 
the  Nag's  Head  Ordination.  This  book  made  a  great 
noyse,  and  was  wonderfully  cried  up  by  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics as  sapping  the  whole  Reformation  at  once  by  de- 
stroying the  Episcopacy.  This  book  was  shewed  to  King 
James,  and  upon  his  reading  of  it,  it  stratled  [sic]  him. 
Upon  this  he  called  his  Privy  Council  and  showed  it  to 
them,  and  withal  told  'em  that  he  was  a  stranger  among 
'em,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  and  directing  him- 
self to  the  Archbishop  who  was  present,  My  Lord  (says 
be),  I  hope  you  can  prove  and  make  good  your  ordina- 

7.  Here  is  one  manrest  absurdity,  for  Scory  himself  had  been  consecrated, 
Aug.  30,  1351,  by  Archbishop  Cranmer  and  two  other  bishops. 

Eomanists,  of  all  others,  are  debarred  from  questioning  Bishop  Scory's 
orders,  for  he  is  one  of  the  reforming  Bishops,  who  was  "reconciled"  during 
the  Roman  usurpation  under  Queen  Mary;  and,  at  the  time  of  the  Queen's  death, 
was  actually  serving  as  a  Suffragan  or  Co-adjutor  Bishop  under  Bonner,  the  Ro- 
manizing Bishop  of  London.    The  fact  is  attested  by  Bonner  in  his  own  register. 


154  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

tion,  for  by  my  sol,  man  (says  he),  if  this  story  be  true  we 
are  no  Church.  The  Archbishop  replied,  he  had  never 
heard  the  story  before,  but  did  not  question  but  he  could 
detect  the  forgery  of  it,  and  by  examining  the  Lambeth 
register  could  prove  Archbishop  Parker's  ordination.  At 
another  Privy  Council  upon  the  same  account,  the  old 
Earle  of  Nottingham  was  present,  and  when  it  was  debated 
the  old  Earle  stood  up  and  told  the  King  and  Council,  he 
could  give  them  full  satisfaction  as  to  that  matter  upon 
his  own  personal  knowledge,  for  (says  he)  Archbishop 
Parker's  ordination  made  a  great  noyse  about  towne  that 
he  was  to  be  ordained  such  a  day  in  Lambeth  Chappel, 
which  drew  a  great  deale  of  company  thither,  and  out  of 
curiosity  I  went  thither  myself,  and  was  present  at  his 
ordination,  and  he  was  ordained  by  the  form  in  King  Ed- 
ward's Common  Prayer  Book.  I  myself  (said  he)  had  the 
book  in  my  hand  all  the  time,  and  went  along  with  the 
ordination,  and  when  it  was  over  I  dined  with  'em,  and 
there  was  an  instrument  drawn  up  of  the  form  and  order 
of  it,  which  instrument  I  saw  and  read  over  Some  time 
after  (I  being  acquainted  with  the  Archbishop  and  being 
at  Lambeth  with  him)  he  told  me  he  had  sent  that  instru- 
ment to  Corpus  Christi  College  in  Cambridge  to  be  laid 
up  in  their  Library  in  perpetuam  rei  viemoriam,  and  sayes 
the  old  Earle,  I  believe  it  may  be  in  the  Library  still  if 
your  Majesty  please  to  have  it  searched  for. 

"  By  my  sol,  man  (says  ye  King),  thou  speakest  to  the 
purpose,  we  must  see  this  instrument,  and  this  puts  the 
thing  out  of  dispute.  Upon  this  a  messenger  was  sent, 
the  instrument  found  and  brought  to  ye  king,  he  shewed 
it  and  had  it  read  in  Council,  and  desired  the  old  Earle 


AUTHORITY.  155 


of  Nottingham  to  look  upon  it,  and  see  if  he  could  remem- 
ber whether  it  was  the  original  instrument  which  was 
drawn  up  at  the  ordination.  The  Earl  perusing  of  it  de- 
clared it  was  ye  original  he  saw  and  read  when  Arch- 
bishop Parker  was  ordained.  The  King  upon  this 
addressing  himself  to  several  Popish  Lords  who  were  then 
present  in  Council,  my  Lords,  sayes  he,  what  do  you  now 
think  of  ye  matter  ?  They  all  declared  their  abhorrence  of 
the  forgery  of  ye  Nag's  Head  ordination,  and  several  of 
'em  upon  it  left  the  Popish  Communion,  and  came  over 
to  ye  Church  of  England,  declaring  that  Church  was  not 
fitt  to  be  trusted  with  their  souls  who  would  invent  and 
abett  such  a  notorious  falsity.  For  truth  of  this  I  witness 
my  hand," 

"  Wm.  Hampton,  rector  of  Worth,  1721." 

I  would  add  that,  while  unscrupuloas  controversialists 
still  make  use  of  this  fable,  all  candid  Roman  Catholic 
scholars  long  since  abandoned  it,  Lingard,^  Charles  Butler, 
Canon  Tierney,  etc.     Indeed  we  are  indebted  to  Roman 

8.    Lingard's  repudiation  of  the  fiction  is  as  follows: 

"To  this  testimony  of  the  register  [of  Abp.  Parker's  consecration]  what 
could  the  champions  of  the  Nag's  Head  story  oppose  ?  They  had  but  one  re- 
source, to  deny  its  authenticity;  to  pronounce  it  a  forgery.  But  there  was  noth- 
ing to  countenance  such  a  supposition.  The  most  experienced  eye  could  not 
discover  in  the  entry  itself,  or  the  form  of  the  characters,  or  the  color  of  the  ink, 
the  slightest  vestige  of  imposture.  *  *  *  if  external  confirmation  were  want- 
ing, there  was  the  archbishop's  diary,  or  journal,  a  parchment  roll  in  which  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  enter  the  principal  events  of  his  life,  and  in  which, 
nnder  the  date  of  the  17th  of  December,  1559,  is  found: 

'"Consecratus  sum  in  archiepiscopum  Cantuariens.  Heu!  heal  Domine 
Deus,  in  quoe  tempora  servasti  me  ! ' 

"Another  confirmation  to  which  no  objection  can  be  reasonably  opposed 
occurs  in  the  Zurich  letters,  in  which  we  find  Sampson  informing  Peter  Martyr, 
on  the  6th  of  January,  1560,  that  Dr.  Parker  had  been  consecrated  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  during  the  preceding  month."— Lingard's  "History  of  England," 
Tol.  vli.,  note  G. 


156  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Catholic  writera  for  some  of  the  ablest  defences  of  Angli- 
can Orders  ever  written — e.  g.  Courayer,  Colbert,  Bossuet, 
Aflfre  (Archbishop  of  Paris)  and  Cardinal  de  la  Luzerne.^ 
It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
Julius  III.,  ordered  Archbishop  Pole  to  absolve  and  recon- 
cile bishops  and  priests  ordained  in  Edward  VI. 's  time, 
but  not  to  re-ordain  them.  Pius  IV.  also  agreed  to  recog- 
nize all  the  reforms  under  Elizabeth,  if  only  she  would 
recognize  his  supremacy.  After  she  declined  to  do  so,  he 
requested  the  Council  of  Trent  to  declare  English  Orders 
invalid,  which  the  council  expressly  refused  to  do.  Horly, 
Archbishop  of  Paris,  and  Innocent  XII.,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
advised  James  II.  to  have  the  non-juring  English  bishops 
keep  up  the  Apostolic  succession  in  England,  which  they 
certainly  would  not  have  done,  had  they  not  believed  in 
Anglican  Orders.  Richard  Selden,  a  Roman  priest,  wrote 
as  follows. 

"  I  myself  lately  for  my  own  satisfaction,  searched  the 
registers,  and  I  found  clearly,  that  Archbishop  Parker  was 
sufficiently,  truly,  and  canonically  ordained  and  conse- 
crated." lo 

Archbishop  Parker,  of  course,  ordained  many  bishops, 
but  as  he  was  always  assisted  by  two  or  more  bishops,  even 
had  he  never  been  ordained  himself  (and  there  is  no  ordi- 
nation in  history  more  certain  than  his),  our  Orders  would 
still  be  valid. 

For  the  benefit  of  any  who  may  still  choose  to  be  skep- 

9.  Du  Pin,  De  Girardin,  and  Beauvoir,  in  their  correspondence  with  Arch- 
bishop Wake  (1718),  fully  acknowledged  Anglican  Orders.  See  Dr.  Pusey's  Ireni- 
con,  pp.  215-16. 

10.  Selden's  "De  Spiritibua  PontificiW  quoted  in  Bailey's  Df.  of  Holy 
Ord.,  p.  9. 


AUTHORITY.  15T 


tical  on  this  subject,  and  especially  any  Roman  Catholic 
brother  who  may  chance  to  read  this  sketch,  I  would  call 
attention  to  one  important  fact  in  the  post-reformation  his- 
tory of  the  Anglo-Catholic  Church.  Early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  a  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  Marc  Antonio 
de  Dominis,  Archbishop  of  Spalato,  conformed  to  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  and  was  appointed  Dean  of  Windsor.  He 
took  part  in  ordaining  two  English  bishops,  George  INIon- 
teigne,  of  London,  and  Nicolas  Felton,  of  Ely,  from  both 
of  whom  the  eight  bishops  derived  their  Orders,  who  sur- 
vived the  seventeen  years  of  persecution  under  the  com- 
monwealth, and  handed  down  the  succession  from  1660  to 
the  present  time.  Observe  also  that  every  one  of  these 
eight  bishops  inherited  the  Irish  succession  as  well,  from 
George,  the  Bishop  of  Derry,  Hampton,  the  Archbishop 
of  Armagh,  and  Murray,  the  Bishop  of  Kilfenora.  No  loss 
of  continuity  has  ever  been  alleged  against  either  the  Irish 
or  the  Italian  Succession,  so  that,  even  if  we  waive  the  old 
English  Succession,  there  is  no  possibility  of  invalidating 
the  present  Anglo-Catholic  Episcopate.^^ 

11.  The  following  extract  from  that  admirable  tract  on  "Anglican  Orders 
and  Jurisdiction"  (Church  League  Press,  18  Liberty  St.,  New  York),  will  explain 
this  more  fully: 

"At  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  in  1660,  after  Episcopal  government  had 
been  suspended  for  seventeen  years  under  the  Commonwealth,  there  were  eight 
prelates  of  the  Anglican  Church  still  surviving.  Prom  these  the  existing  line  is 
derived,  and  it  is  convenient,  therefore,  to  narrow  the  inquiry  to  the  validity  of 
their  succession.  They  wore  Juxon  of  London  (at  once  translated  to  Canter- 
bury), Frewen  of  York,  Duppa  of  Winchester,  Wren  of  Ely,  King  of  Chichester 
Skinner  of  Oxford,  Warner  of  Rochester,  and  Roberts  of  Bangor. 

"All  of  these,  except  King  and  Frewen,  were  consecrated  by  Archbishop  Laud 
with  sometimes  four,  and  sometimes  five,  co-consecrators.  The  two  others 
raised  to  the  mitre  while  Laud  was  in  prison,  were  severally  consecrated  by 
Juxon  with  three  other  Bishops,  and  by  Williams,  Archbishop  of  York,  with 
four  others,  including  Duppa. 

"Laud  and  Williams  were  consecrated  within  a  week  of  each  other,  one  by  six 


158         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

The  American  Episcopate  comes  through  four  bishops 
ordained,  one  by  three  Scottish  bishops,  and  three  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  with  the  canonical  number  of 
assisting  bishops- 

In  the  case  of  the  English  Colonial  Bishops  the  same 
care  has  been  taken.  The  Anglican  Church,  therefore,  has 
"continued  steadfastly  in  the  Apostles'  Fellowship."  Her 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  bishops  to-day,  bearing  the 
Saviour's  commission  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth, 
and  inheriting  his  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  are,  with  the  twelve 
apostles  and  all  their  successors  in  the  Catholic  Episco- 
pate, a  perpetual  "  witness  of  His  Resurrection,"  fulfilling^ 
the  Saviour's  prophesy :  "  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me 
*     *     *     unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth.''^     (Acts,  i.,  8.) 

Behold  the  "  Father  of  Waters  "  as  he  pours  his  flood 
into  the  southern  gulf.  In  that  mighty  current  are  blended 
the  rain-drojis  that  fell  on  the  plateaux  of  the  north,  upon 
the  Alleghany  Hills,  and  among  the  mountain  ranges  that 
lie  towards  the  setting  sun.  So  the  Anglo-Catholic  Epis- 
copate draws  its  potent  and  beneficent  authority  from  St. 


bishops,  the  other  by  five  of  those  six.  Among  them  were  George  Monteigue  of 
London,  and  Nicolas  Felton  of  Ely,  who  had  been  consecrated  in  1617  by  Marc 
Antonio  deDomonis,  Archbishop  of  Spalato,  assisting  Abbot  of  Canterbury,  and 
four  others.  Another  of  their  consecrators  was  Field  of  Llandaff,  one  of  whose 
consecrators  was  George,  Bishop  of  Derry ;  and  a  fourth  was  Howson  of  Oxford, 
who  derived,  through  Morton  of  Durham,  from  Hampton,  Archbishop  of  Armagh, 
^lorton  and  Bancroft  of  Oxford  (who  had  been  consecrated  by  William  Murray  of 
Kilfenora)  were  amongst  Duppa's  consecrators. 

"Thus  in  the  present  line  of  Anglican  prelates,  three  successions  meet,  the 
Italian,  the  Irish,  and  the  English.  No  allegation  of  loss  of  continuity  is  urged 
against  the  two  former,  and  thus,  even  if  the  third  be  imperfect,  the  cord  is  un- 
broken. 

"  That  the  English  strand  is  as  perfect  as  the  two  others  is  easy  of  proof." 


AUTHORITY.  VoM 


James  in  Jerusalem,!^  from  St.  John  in  Ephesus,  from  SS. 
Paul  and  Peter  in  the  west.  And  as  the  rain  which  feeds 
the  river  is  from  above,"  so  the  grace  of  Holy  Orders 
flows  down  to  us  by  way  of  the  Orient  and  Italy,  by  way 
of  Gaul  and  Britain  of  old  —  Hebrew  and  Greek,  Roman, 
Celtic,  and  Saxon,  it  comes  from  above,  and  swells  that 
"  River,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make  glad  the  City  of 
God." 


13     St.  David,  Archbishop  of  Wales  in  the  sixth  century,  was  consecrated  by 
the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XYII. 

PIUS   IV.   AND   THE   ENGLISH   REFORMATION. 

IT  is  asserted  in  almost  every  history  of  the  Anglican 
Church  that  Pius  IV.  agreed  to  recognize  the  English 
reformation,  provided  that  his  own  supremacy  should  be 
acknowledged.  This  concession  on  his  part  is  valuable  as 
showing  that  our  Church  had  lost  nothing  which  even  in 
the  estimation  of  Rome,  is  essential  to  a  true  Church. 

Hore,  in  his  "  Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Church  in  Eng- 
land" (p.  348),  says:  "Pope  Paul  IV.  having  died  on 
August  18,  1559,  was  succeeded  by  Pius  IV.  The  new 
Pope  sent  bis  nuncio  with  a  letter  to  the  Queen,  announc- 
ing his  approval  and  willingness  to  accept  the  new  Prayer 
Book,  as  well  as  the  Communion  in  both  kinds,  if  only  the 
Queen  would  acknowledge  his  supremacy." 

Jennings,  in  his  excellent "  Ecclesia  Anglicana  "  (p.  319), 
says:  "  Convinced  that  nothing  was  to  be  gained  in  Eng- 
land by  hostility  to  the  throne,  Pius  made  friendly  over- 
tures to  Elizabeth.  We  have  it  on  good  authority  that  he 
oflfered  to  sanction  the  Prayer  Book  of  1559,  provided  the 
English  Church  recognized  the  supremacy  of  Rome." 

Cutts,  in  his  "  Turning  Points  of  English  Church  His- 
tory "  (p.  287),  says  :     "A  new  Pope,  Pius  IV.,  in  1560 


AUTHORITY.  161 


addressed  to  her  (Elizabeth)  a  letter  of  very  different  tenor, 
making  overtures  for  a  reconciliation.  He  offered  that,  on 
condition  of  her  adhesion  to  the  see  of  Rome,  the  Pope 
would  approve  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  including 
the  Liturgy  or  Communion  Service  and  the  Ordinal.  Al- 
though his  Holiness  complained  that  many  things  were 
omitted  from  the  Prayer  Book  which  ought  to  be  there,  he 
admitted  that  the  book  nevertheless  contained  nothing 
contrary  to  truth,  while  it  certainly  comprehended  all  that 
is  necessary  for  salvation.  He  was  therefore  prepared  to 
authorize  the  book  if  the  Queen  would  receive  it  from  him 
and  on  his  authority." 

Blunt,  in  his  historical  introduction  to  the  Prayer  Book 
(p.  XXXV.),  says  :  "It  is  worth  notice,  however,  that  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  as  thus  revised  in  1559  was 
quietly  accepted  by  the  great  body  of  Romanist  laity; 
and  also  that  the  Pope  himself  saw  so  little  to  object  to  in 
it  that  he  ofiered  to  give  the  book  his  full  sanction  if  his 
authority  were  recognized  by  the  Queen  and  the  kingdom." 
And  he  quc^^^s  Sir  Edward  Coke  as  saying  that  the  Pope, 
Pius  IV.,  "  before  the  time  of  his  excommunication  against 
Queen  Elizabeth  denounced,  sent  his  letter  unto  her 
Majesty,  in  which  he  did  allow  the  Bible  and  Book  of 
Divine  Service,  as  it  is  now  used  among  us,  to  be  authentic 
and  not  repugnant  to  truth.  But  that  therein  was  con- 
tained enough  necessary  to  salvation,  though  there  was 
not  in  it  so  much  as  might  conveniently  be,  and  that  he 
would  also  allow  it  unto  us  without  changing  any  part,  so  as 
her  Majesty  would  acknowledge  to  receive  it  from  the  Pope, 
and  b}^  his  allowance,  which  her  Majesty  denying  to  do,  she 
was  then  presently  by  the  same  Pope  excommunicated. 


162         EEA80N8  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


And  this  is  the  truth  concerning  Pope  Pius  Quartus,  as  I 
have  faith  to  God  and  men.  I  have  oftentimes  heard 
avowed  by  the  late  Queen  her  own  words,  and  I  have  con- 
ferred with  some  Lords  that  were  of  greatest  reckoning  in 
the  State,  who  had  seen  and  read  the  Letter,  which  the 
Pope  sent  to  that  effect,  as  have  been  by  me  specified. 
And  this  upon  my  credit,  as  I  am  an  honest  man,  is  most 
true."  Blunt  moreover  gives  a  list  of  authorities,  viz.: 
"The  Lord  Coke,  his  speech  and  charge,  London,  1607. 
See  also  Camden,  Ann,  Eliz.,  p.  59,  ed.  1615.  Twysden's 
Historical  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  England,  p.  175. 
Validity  of  the  Orders  of  the  Church  of  England,  by  Hum- 
phrey Prideaux,  D.  D.,  1688.  Bramhall's  Works,  ii.,  85, 
ed.  1845.  Bishop  Babington's  Notes  on  the  Pentateuch  ; 
on  Numbers,  vii.  Courayer's  Defence  of  the  Dissertation 
on  the  Validity  of  English  Ordinations,  ii.,  360,  378.  Har- 
rington's Pius  IV,  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  1856." 

Our  own  Van  Antwerp,  in  his  very  readable  and  com- 
prehensive "Church  History"  (vol.  iii.,  p.  144-5),  gives 
the  same  story. 

The  following  extract  from  Butler's  "  Historical  Memoirs 
of  the  Catholics"  (Lond.,  ed.  1822,  vol.  i.,  ch.  22,  §  9,  p. 
280),  is  especially  valuable,  as  coming  from  a  learned 
Roman  Catholic  : 

"In  May,  1560,  he  (Pius  the  fourth),  sent  Vincentio 
Parpalia  *  *  *  to  the  Queen  with  a  letter,  most  ear- 
nestly but  respectfully  entreating  her  to  return  to  the 
bosom  of  the  Church.  On  this  occasion,  Parpalia,  if  we 
are  to  credit  Camden,  was  instructed  by  the  Pope  to  offer 
to  the  Queen,  that  the  Pope  would  annul  the  sentence  of 
Clement,  his  predecessor,  against  her  mother's  marriage, 


AUTHORITY.  163 


settle  the  liturgy  by  his  authority,  and  grant  to  the  English 
the  use  of  the  sacrament  under  both  kinds. 

"  Parpalia  reached  Bruxelles  ;  from  that  place  he  ac- 
quainted the  English  ministry  with  the  object  of  his  mis- 
sion, and  proceeded  to  Calais.  The  propriety  of  admit- 
ting him  was  debated  in  the  royal  council  and  determined 
in  the  negative 

"  The  conciliating  Pope  was  not  disheartened  ;  at  a  sub- 
sequent time  he  deputed  the  Abbe  Martenengo  to  the 
Queen,  to  notify  to  her  the  sitting  of  the  Council  of  Trent» 
and  to  request  she  would  send  an  ambassador  to  it,  and 
permit  the  prelates  of  England  to  attend  it.  Some  objected 
to  the  Pope,  that  this  was  showing  too  great  a  condescen- 
sion towards  persons  who  had  formerly  separated  from 
the  Church.  '  Nothing,'  said  the  worthy  pontiflf,  is  hu- 
miliating to  gain  souls  to  Christ.'  Both  the  King  of 
Spain  and  the  Duke  of  Alva  seconded  *  *  *  the 
Pope's  request,  but  the  Queen  was  inflexible  5  *  *  * 
she  therefore  refused  to  permit  the  abbe  to  enter  any  part 
of  her  dominions." 

The  reader  will  also  find  it  in  Bailey's  "  Jurisdiction  and 
Mission  of  the  Ang.  Epis.,"  p.  65  ;  in  Hardwicke's  "  Refor- 
mation," and  in  scores  of  other  reliable  works.  I  have 
never  seen  the  story  controverted  or  even  questioned. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ANGLICAN  JURISDICTION   AND   CATHOLICITY. 

"Men  cannot  set  up  a  new  Church,  so  we  think,  and  we  bless  God  that  we 
have  the  old  Church  cleansed  and  purified."— Bis7iop  Lee,  the  Presiding  Bishop 
of  the  Church  in  the  U.  S.  {Second  LeUer  to  the  Assistant  Bishop  of  N.  T.J 

WHEN  the  bishops  of  the  whole  Anglican  communion, 
English,  Irish,  Scotch,  American,  Colonial,  and  Mis- 
sionary, from  all  parts  of  the  world,  assembled  together  at 
Lambeth,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1867,  the  Synod  declared 
"  that  there  was  one  true  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church, 
founded  by  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  that  of 
this  true  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church,  the  Church  of 
England  and  the  Churches  in  communion  with  her  are 
living  members ;  and  that  the  Church  of  England  earn- 
estly desires  to  maintain  freely  the  Catholic  faith  as  set 
forth  by  (Ecumenical  councils  of  the  Universal  Church." 
A  National  Church  might  have  valid  orders,  and  yet  by 
heresy  or  schism  have  cut  itself  off  from  Catholic  Chris- 
tendom and  have  lost  its  jurisdiction.  If  all  jurisdiction 
flows  from  the  Bishop  of  Rome  (which  is  the  modern 
Ultramontane  fiction),  then,  in  casting  ofi"  his  authority, 
our  Church  became  schismatic.  But  it  is  enough  to  say 
that  this  Ultramontane  theory  is  a  recent  innovation — 
nuper  inventum  et  ante  haec  tempora  inauditum. 


AUTHORITY.  165 


Our  Church  in  the  British  period  owed  nothing  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.  According  to  the  ancient  canons  of  the 
universal  Church,  every  provincial  Church  possessed  in- 
herent jurisdiction,^  and  notably  the  aulocephalous  Churches, 
as  of  Cyprus  and  Britain.  When  Augustine  received  the 
Archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  it  was  not  as  a  lieutenant  of 
the  Roman  PontiflF,  but  "  as  an  independent  bishop  of  a  See 
in  a  country  which  had  never  been  included  in  the  Patri- 
archate of  Ronie,^  as  the  ^^Papa  alterius  orbis.''^'^  Gregory, 
in  fact,  appointed  Augustine  to  be  Archbishop  of  London 
(though  by  the  authority  of  the  King  of  Kent  he  was  actu- 
ally placed  in  Canterbury  instead  of  London,^  and  Augus- 
tine was  consecrated  by  French  bishops  ;  but  Gregorx'^ 
ordered  that  "  for  the  future  the  Archbishop  should  be 
consecrated  by  his  own  synod"  (i.  e.,  in  England),  and 
that  his  jurisdiction  should  extend  over  the  whole  island. 

1.  See  Bishop  Forbes  on  Art.  XXXVIl.,  and  Bailey  on  the  "Jurisdiction  and 
Miseion  of  the  Ang.  Epis.,"  Sec.  IV. 

2.  Id.,  p.  44.  Cf.also  note,  p.  96,  of  "The  Eng.  Ref.,"  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  J. 
Williams,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  Bp.  of  Conn.  "  The  Roman  Patriarchate,"  says  he,  "  in- 
cluded the  ten  provinces  placed  under  the  Ficariits  urbi*,  namely ;  Italy,  south 
of  the  Italic  Diocese,  and  the  three  adjacent  islands."  The  editor  of  the  "Church 
Times"  says:  "We  know  from  Rufflnus  (and  the  matter  has  been  thoroughly 
worlied  out  by  the  great  Freucli  Catholic  scholar,  Dupin,  in  his  treatise  De  Anti- 
gua DiscipUna)  that  the  Roman  Patriarchate  extended  over  no  more  than  the  ten 
"suburbicarian"  provinces  of  Italy— those  under  the  civil  jurisdiction  of  the 
Roman  praBtor — and  the  islands  of  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  Elba.  What  decides 
Patriarchal  authority  is  the  right  of  consecrating  Metropolitans.  And  the  Popes 
did  not  get  this  power,  even  in  North  Italy,  till  the  days  of  Gregory  the  Great. 
All  the  West,  outside  the  limits  named,  was  and  is  extra-Patriarchal." 

3.  Colt's  Early  Hist.,  etc.,  note,  p.  140.    "Pope  of  another  loorld.'" 

4.  The  Christian  Kings  of  England  always  had  a  share  in  appointing  bishops. 
See  [e.  cr-]  the  general  synod  of  the  English  Ch.,  A.  D.  1072,  where  it  was  decreed 
among  other  things:  "If  the  Archbishop  of  York  shall  die,  his  successor,  accept- 
ing (he  gift  of  the  archbishopric  from  the  King,  shall  come  to  Canterbury  to 
receive  canonical  ordination."— Wm.  of  Malmsbury,  Hiet.  of  the  King's  Book,  3, 
p.  265. 


166         REASONS  FOE  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

The  English  Church  was,  therefore,  complete  in  itself. 
And  as  to  its  Archbishops,  the  learned  canonist,  Thomassi- 
nus,  says  :  "  The  confirmation  of  the  Roman  See  was  not  to 
be  waited  for."  The  Archbishops  both  of  Canterbury  and 
York  were  generally  appointed  by  the  king,  elected  by  the 
clergy  or  Cathedral  Chapter,  and  consecrated  in  England. 
Until  into  the  twelfth  century  only  two  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury,  and  none  of  York,  were  consecrated  by  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  ;  nor  is  there  even  "any  clear  instance 
of  the  Pope's  confirming  the  election  of  English  Metropol- 
itans till  the  time  of  Richard,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
in  1174."  The  English  Church  was  never  lawfully  de- 
pendent on  Rome,  or  Constantinople,  or  any  other  foreign 
See  for  her  jurisdiction  or  ecclesiastical  right  to  exercise 
her  Catholic  orders  and  spiritual  power  within  definite 
territorial  limits.  "The  English  clergy  derive  their  juris- 
diction from  their  own  bishops,  and  these  from  their 
bishops  who  went  before  them  back  to  the  "beginning,  as 
every  Christian  Church  whatever  derived  theirs,  without 
one  thought  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  for  some  1200  years, 
and  as  the  whole  Eastern  Church  derives  hers  until  this 
very  day."^ 

"  The  only  difference  in  the  '  English  Catholic  Church,' 
as  it  existed  previous  to  the  dynasty  of  the  Tudors,  and 
as  it  stood  at  the  termination  of  the  reign  of  William  III., 
was  that  certain  ecclesiastical  abuses  had  arisen,  which 


5.  Haddan  Apost.  Succ.  in  the  Ch.  of  England,  p.  282.  It  should  he  remem- 
bered that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  wished  the  Council  of  Trent  to  declare  that  all 
jurisdiction  comes  from  "the  chair  of  St.  Peter."  This,  however,  the  council 
expressly  refused  to  do.    See  Forbes  on  the  Arts,  Art.  XXXVII.,  p.  774. 


AUTHORITY.  167 


were  corrected  by  Parliament  and  the  clerical  synods  in 
convocation ;  but  the  identity  of  the  '  English  Catholic 
Church'  was  never  destroyed.  That  sect  which  is  now 
commonly  called  '  Roman  Catholics.'  are  nothing  but  a 
mere  body  of  dissenters  from  the  'English  Catholic 
Church,'  and  have  never,  constitutionally  speaking,  been 
arbitrarily  deprived  of  a  vested  right." — ("  Delolmeon  the 
English  Constitution,"  quoted  in  Greave's  "  Vindication 
of  the  Right  of  the  Anglican  Chr.,"  etc.,  p.  152.) 

The  Anglican  Reformers  certainly  had  no  idea  of  com- 
mitting the  sin  of  schism  or  of  making  a  Protestant  church. 
They  simply  designed — and  in  the  Providence  of  God 
accomplished — the  freeing  and  purifying  of  so  much  of 
the  Catliolic  Church  as  came  under  their  own  jurisdiction. 
As  Bishop  Williams  remarks  :  "  There  is  not  the  smallest 
thought  of  separating  from  the  unity  of  the  Catholic 
Church  of  Christ,  far  less  of  founding  a  new  Church.  The 
law  of  historic  continuity  is  all  along  asserted  and  acted 
on."  ^  The  continuous  identity  of  the  Anglican  Church  is 
distinctly  asserted  in  the  Preface  to  the  English  Prayer 
Book,  in  this  passage  :  "  The  service  in  this  Church  of  Eng- 
land, these  many  years,  hath  been  read  in  Latin."  It  was, 
therefore,  this  same  Church  of  England  before  as  well  as  after 
the  translation  of  its  Prayer  Book  into  a  language  under- 
standed  of  the  people. 

But  even  had  the  English  Church  been  guilty  of  schism 
(which  she  was  not),  it  would  have  been  justifiable  (if 
ever  a  schism  could  be),  for  the  corruption  of  Western 
Christendom  had  become  intolerable.  Even  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  himself,  Adrian  VI.,  who  labored  so  hard  for 

6.     Eng.  Ref.,  pp.  122-3. 


]68         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

reform  during  his  brief  pontificate  (but  as  Bishop  Wil- 
liams naively  remarks,  "  Reforming  popes  seem  to  have 
had  but  short  reigns  "),  freely  admitted  that  "  many  abom- 
inations had  existed  for  a  long  time, even  in  the  Holy  See. 
Yea,  that  all  things  had  been  grievously  altered  and  per- 
verted." Unlike  the  so-called  "reformers"  on  the  conti- 
nent, who  broke  altogether  with  the  past,  and  kept  neither 
jurisdiction  nor  orders,  our  Church  retained  both,  and 
indeed  used  as  much  care  that  on  her  "part  there  should  be 
no  schism  from  the  rest  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  that 
there  should  be  no  loss  of  the  Apostolic  Succession  or  the 
Orthodox  Faith.  Canon  xxx.  of  the  Anglican  code,  in 
allusion  to  the  Reformation,  says  : 

"  So  far  was  it  from  the  Church  of  England  to  forsake 
and  reject  the  Churches  of  Italy,  Rome,  Spain,  and  Ger- 
many, or  any  other  such  like  Churches,  that  it  doth  with 
reverence  retain  those  ceremonies  which  do  neither  endan- 
ger the  Church  of  God,  nor  offend  the  minds  of  sober  men  ; 
and  only  departed  from  them  in  those  particular  points 
wherein  they  were  fallen  from  themselves  in  their  ancient 
integrity,  and  from  the  Apostolic  Churches,  which  were 
their  first  founders." 

At  the  election  and  Consecration  of  Parker,  there  was 
no  intimation  of  such  a  thing  as  his  receiving  and  holding 
any  difi'erent  oflice  in  the  Catholic  Church  from  that  of 
the  sixty-seven  previous  occupants  of  the  Throne  of  St. 
Augustine.  The  mandates  for  his  election  and  Consecra- 
tion did  not  say  that  the  Catholic  Church  being  now  at  an 
end  in  England,  a  Protestant  Archbishop  would  be  elected 
for  a  Protestant  church  :  but,  on  the  contrary,  after  allud- 
ing to  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  *'  the  Lord 


AUTHORITY.  169 


Reginald  Pole,  laat  and  immediate  Archbishop,"  they 
ordered  the  election,  confirmation,  and  Consecration  of 
his  successor  in  the  same  office,  in  the  same  Church.''  Indeed, 
one  Bishop — Kitchen  of  Llandafif — held  his  sacred  oflSce 
under  Henry,  Edward,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth,  never  for  a 
moment  imagining  that  he  had  been  a  bishop  in  more 
than  one  Church  all  the  while.  Out  of  9,^00  clergy,  only 
189,  at  the  most,  refused  to  accept  the  reforms  which,  how- 
ever important,  were  merely  an  episode  in  the  continuous 
life  of  the  Anglo-Catholic  Church.  Queen  Elizabeth  always 
professed  herself  a  Catholic.  When  Pius  IV.  invited  her 
to  the  Council  of  Trent  in  the  same  terms  as  the  Protestant 
Princes,  she  returned  an  indignant  remonstrance,  saying 
that  "  an  invidious  distinction  is  made  between  me  and 
such  other  Catholic  potentates  as  have  been  invited  to  this 
Council."  She  also  wrote  to  the  German  Emperor  and 
some  other  Roman  Catholic  Princes,  declaring  :  "  There  is 
no  new  faith  propagated  in  England  ;  no  religion  set  up 
but  that  which  was  commanded  by  our  Saviour,  preached 
by  the  primitive  Church,  and  unanimously  approved  by 
the  Fathers  of  the  best  antiquity."  Archbishop  Parkei\ 
in  his  last  will  and  testament,  declared  :  "  I  profess  that  I 
do  certainly  believe  and  hold  whatsoever  the  Holy  Cath- 
olic Church  believeth  and  receiveth."  The  mere  casting 
off  of  the  usurped  dominion  of  a  foreign  prelate,  who  had 
no  more  right  to  the  obedience  of  England  than  the  Bishop 
of  Delaware  has  to  the  obedience  of  Canada,  did  not  in 
the  least  mar  the  Catholicity  of  our  Church.  During  the 
reigns  of  Henry  and  Edward,  and  to  the  eleventh  year  of 
Elizabeth— 1531  to  1570— the  English  Church  reasserted 

7.    See  Letters  Patent  in  Chapter  XVIl. 


170         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

her  independence  of  Rome,^  and  yet  those  EngHsh  Church- 
men who  really  believed  in  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman 
Bishop,  none  the  less  worshipped  and  received  the  Sacra- 
ments in  the  parish  churches,  just  as  before.  As  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Coke  said,  in  1607  :  "  Generally  (of)  all  the 
Palmists  in  this  kingdom,  not  any  of  them  did  refuse  to 
come  to  our  Church  and  yield  their  obedience  to  the  laws 
established.  And  they  all  continued,  not  any  one  refus- 
ing to  come  to  our  churches  during  the  first  ten  years  of 
her  Majesty's  government."  The  Queen  also  asserts  the 
same  in  a  message  to  the  French  Government,  in  1570, 
saying  :  "  They  did  ca'dinarily  resort  *  *  *  in  all  open 
places,  to  the  churches,  and  to  Divine  service  in  the 
church,  without  any  contradiction  or  show  of  misliking." 
It  was  the  same  also  in  Ireland. 

Thus  the  whole  nation  was  peaceably  settling  down  to 
the  old  Church,  "  Catholic,  Reformed,  and  Free,"  when,  in 
1570,^  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  Pius  V.,  issued  his  famous 
bull,  entitled,  "  The  Damnation  and  Excommunication  of 

8.  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  for  some  800  years  previous  it  had  been 
unlawful  for  any  English  Churchman  to  receive  any  appointment  from  Rome,  or 
make  any  appeal  to  Kome. 

9.  "On  April  27,  1570,  the  shameful  mandate  went  forth,  bidding  all  who 
would  obey  Pius  V.  to  break  with  their  own  English  Church,  to  secede  and  form 
conventicles,  to  abandon  and  dethrone  their  sovereign,  and  to  subject  their 
country,  if  they  could,  to  a  foreign  invader."— Curteis'  "  Dissent  in  ittt  Relation , 
to  the  Cliurch  of  Enyland.'''' 

"The  Church  of  Rome  at  the  present  day  cannot  be  identified  with  the 
Church  of  England  previous  to  the  iveformation;  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops 
in  England  and  Scotland  are  bishops  of  foreign  sees,  and  neither  they  nor  those 
who  have  been  schismatically  consecrated  for  the  sees  in  Ireland,  which  at  the 
time  of  the  Reformation  were  canonically  filled,  can  trace  any  descent  from  the 
bishops  of  the  ancient  churches  in  these  kingdoms;  the  now  bishops  of  the 
Church  of  England  being  the  only  representatives  by  episcopal  succession  of  the 
ancient  Celtic  and  Anglo-Saxon  churches:  and  the  strongest  illustration  of  this 
position  is  that  the  votaries  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  are  distinguished  by 


AUTHORITY.  171 


Elizabeth  "^0  —  deposing  the  Queen,  forsooth,  absolving 
uU  her  subjects  from  their  oath  of  allegiance,  and  coiu- 
manding  them  to  withdraw  from  the  Church.  A  mere 
handful  of  Englishmen,  in  disloyalty  to  the  Catholic 
"Church,  and  in  treason  to  the  Government,  seceded  and 
form.ed  the  Roman  Schism  or  Italian  Mission  in  England. 

We  never  excommunicated  them  ;  we  never  broke  fel- 
lowship with  them  ;  we  have  never  repelled  them  from 
our  altars.  As  St.  Cyprian  said  of  the  Novatian  schis- 
matics in  the  third  century,  "We  did  not  depart  from 
them,  but  they  departed  from  us."^^ 

The  petty  Schism  thus  started  aimed  at  nothing  less 
than  the  complete  subjugation  of  tlie  Catholic  Church  and 
the  State  of  England,  to  a  certain  bishop  residing  in  Italy- 
But  despite  Latin  anathemas,  Jesuit  plots  and  Spanish 
Armadas,  God  saved  both  His  Church  and  the  State. 

The  Roman  schism  in  England  has  been  a  failure.  It 
is  a  mere  parasite  and  exotic  having  no  organic  connection 
with  the  ancient  tree,  no  lineal  descent  from  the  dear  old 
Catholic  Church  of  St.  Alban  and  St.  Chad,  Augustine, 
Theodore  and  Langton.  It  was  not  until  1850  that  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  presumed  to  intrude  diocesan  bishops  into 
English  Sees,  in  direct  violation  of  the  thirty-sixth  Apos- 
tolic canon  re-enacted  in  substance  again  and  again  by 

the  adoption  of  a  new  creed,  which  the  English  Catholic  Church  at  no  one  period 
of  her  existence  ever  recognized." — ^•Delohne  on  the  English  Constitution." 

"These  are  weighty  words;  they  show  that  the  Church  of  England  reformed 
Itself  constitutionally,  the  bishops  and  clergy  in  their  convocations,  the  Parlia- 
ment and  the  King  representing  the  laity,  assenting  alike  to  the  changes.  This 
is  the  Church  of  England,  and  no  foreign  bishop  has  any  lawful  authority  in  its 
borders." — Rev-  J.  A.  Qreaves. 

10.  See  Coit's  Early  History,  etc.,  Note,  p.  70. 

11.  De  Unit.  Eccl.,  p.  356. 


172         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

councils  provincial  and  general.^^  Pius  IX.,  moreover,  in 
making  Westminster,  instead  of  Canterbury,  the  Metropoli- 
tan See  of  his  English  schism,  seemed  to  forget  that  his 
infallible  predecessor,  Boniface,  in  the  seventh  century,  de- 
creed that  Canterbury  should  forever  be  the  Metropolitan 
See  of  all  Britain,  no  matter  what  changes  should  take 
place,  pronouncing  dreadful  curses  on  any  one  who  should 
presume  to  alter  his  decree.^^ 

I  leave  it  to  any  candid  reader  to  say  which  are  the 
schismatics,  the  Anglo-Catholics,  who  have  remained  in 
the  old  Church  cleared  of  corruptions  but  not  shorn  of  any 
mark  of  Catholicity,  or  the  few  Recusants  who  at  the  beck 
of  a  foreign  prelate  left  their  Mother  Church  and  reared 
altar  against  altar  ? 

The  English  Church  never  claimed  to  be  Protestant, 
never  once  officially  wrote  the  word.  As  the  fogs  of 
the  eighteenth  century  clear  away,  as  people  become 
more  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  Church  and  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation,  it  will  be  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  marvels  of  history  that  we  Anglicans  should 
ever  for  one  moment  have  imagined  ourselves  anything 
but  Catholics;  that  we  should  ever,  even  in  careless  and 
casual  conversation,  have  yielded  the  name,  the  privilege, 
and  the  honor  of  Catholicity  to  the  Latin  intruders,  or 
allowed  ourselves  to  be  called  by  a  misnomer  borrowed 
from  German  sectarians.  It  is  like  a  wealthy  miser  who 
persists  in  calling  himself  poor,  till  he  comes  to  believe 
that  he  is  a  pauper. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  William  III.,  "  the  duU 

12.  Bailey's  Juris,  and  Miss,  of  the  Ang.  Epis.,  p.  68. 

13.  Id.,  p.  47,  quoted  from  William  of  Malmsbury. 


AUTHORITY.  173 


usurper  of  Orange "  (as  Bishop  Coxe  calls  him),  being 
desirous  to  identify  the  Catholic  Church  of  England  with 
Dissenters  and  continental  Protestants,  sent  a  message  to 
convocation  in  which  he  speaks  of  his  "  interest  for  the 
Protestant  religion  in  general,  and  the  Church  of  England  in 
particular."  Even  this  indirect  association  of  our  Catho- 
lic Church  with  Protestantism  was  not  allowed  to  pass  Con- 
vocation, and  after  a  thorough  discussion,  "an  address  of 
thanks  was  presented  to  the  King  in  which  the  word  Pro- 
testant as  applied  to  the  English  Church  was  omitted."  i'* 
The  unchurchly  King  was  angry  and  mortified,  and  showed 
his  unrighteous  indignation  hy  proroguing  Convocation  and 
not  allowing  it  to  sit  again  for  ten  years. 

The  English  Church  in  her  authorized  prayers  says  : 
^'  We  pray  for  the  good  estate  of  the  Catholic  Church.^'' 
[Query:  Is  this  a  prayer  for  Popery?]  Again  :  "  That  it 
may  please  Thee  to  rule  and  govern  Thy  Holy  Church 
Universal." — Sanctam  Ecclesiam  tuam  Catholicam.  Thirteen 
times  a  year  every  Englishman  is  expected  to  make  that 
grand  and  stately  confession  which  begins  :  "  Whosoever 
will  be  saved  it  is  before  all  things  necessary  that  he 
hold  the  Catholic  faith,"  and  which  abounds  in  such  expres- 
sions as  "  The  Catholic  Faith  is  this,"  and  "  We  are  for- 
bidden by  the  Catholic  religion,"  and  in  the  Coronation 
Service  the  Sovereign  is  invested  with  the  ring  as  "the 
ensign  of  kingly  dignity  and  of  defence  of  the  Catholic 
Faith." 

14.  Hore'e  Eighteen  Centuries,  p.  448.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  just  here,  that 
the  official  title  of  the  Romish  Comnaunion  is  not  the  "Catholic  Church,"  but 
"The  Holy  Roman  Church,"  or  "The  Holy  Catholic  Apostolic  Roman  Church." 
(See  Creed  of  Pius  IV.)  Laud  left  by  will  to  the  "  Catholic  Church  "  in  England, 
has  been  awarded  not  to  the  Roman  Schism  in  England,  but  to  the  English 
Church.     (See  Ch.  Eel.,  Apr.,  1885,  p.  68. 


174         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

Even  we  American  Churchmen  (though  we  took  the 
civil  title  "  Protestant  Episcopal ")  still  claim  to  be  and 
are  that  part  of  the  Catholic  Church  which  has  lawful  juris- 
diction in  the  United  States,  and  we  authoritatively  pray- 
that  we  may  die  "in  the  communion  of  the  Catholic- 
Church.  "15 

15.  The  greatest  mistake  the  Church  in  the  United  States  ever  made  was  the 
gradual  acceptance,  as  a  civil  title,  of  the  name  "Protestant  Episcopal  "—which 
means  (according  to  our  missionaries  who  have  labored  to  translate  it  into 
Chinese)  "The  Contradictory  Bishop's  Church!  " 

In  the  first  place  our  Church  is  not  protestant  in  the  original  ecclesiastical 
sense  of  the  term,  which  is  equivalent  to  Lutheran,  having  been  conferred  on 
German  separatists  on  account  of  their  protest  against  the  Diet  of  Spires. 

In  the  second  place,  our  Church  is  not  protestant  in  the  modern  popular 
sense  of  the  term,  which  means  not  Catholic.  Ciod  forbid  that  we  should  ever 
cease  to  be  Catholics. 

In  the  third  place,  our  Church  is  not  protestant  in  the  strict  technical  sense, 
of  protesting  or  remonstrating  against  the  abuses  of  a  sttperior  aMt/»oriti/,  which, 
in  spite  of  abuses,  is  nevertheless  a,lawful  authority.  We  do  not  (strictly  speak- 
ing) protest  against  Rome,  for  such  protest  would  imply  that  Rome  has  nuthnritif 
over  us,  against  some  exercise  of  which  we  protest.  But  Rome  has  no  authority 
over  us;  consequently  we  do  not  prolent.  We  merely  fall  back  on  our  a«c»e?it, 
inherent,  co-ordinate  Catholic  independence.  This  was  admirably  set  forth  by  Dr.. 
Thrall,  in  the  General  Convention  of  1883. 

We  are  protestant  only  in  the  general,  loose,  vagne  and  vapid  sense  in  which 
even/  organization  is  protestant  against  every  other  organization  which  in  any 
way  differs  from  it  —  the  same  sense  in  which  we  (and  alJ  Christians)  are  protest- 
ant against  Judaism,  Mohammedanism,  and  Unitarianism;  the  same  sense  in 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  is  protestant  against  us  and  against  the  Orthodox 
Catholics  of  the  Orient;  the  same  sense  in  which  the  word  could  be  applied  to- 
any  school  of  medicine  or  philosophy,  any  political  party,  any  social  club.  Now 
in  all  seriousness  and  common  sense,  is  it  worth  while  to  qualify  the  Catholic 
Church  in  the  United  States  by  such  &  title  as  that?  —  a  title  at  best,  meaningless ; 
at  ivorst,  foully  misleading;  a  title  which  our  Mother  Church  in  England  refused 
to  countenance;  which  even  the  Church  of  Ireland  (the  least  Catholic  of  all  the 
branches  of  the  Catholic  Church)  repudiates  with  scorn  and  indignation ;  whicli 
only  one  or  two  (and  they  the  most  insignificant)  of  all  the  legion  of  protestant 
sects  have  incorporated  into  their  legal  designation.  Who  of  us  does  not  agree 
with  Dr.  Fulton,  when  he  says:  "I  should  be  glad  if  the  name  'Protestant' 
could  be  dropped  from  the  title  page  of  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer  "  !  (Am.  Ch. 
Rev.,  Jan.,  1885,  p.  315.) 

As  to  the  other  adjective.  Episcopal,  while  it  is  true,  it  is  simple  tautology. 
"Episcopal!"  Why,  the  word  Catholic — nay,  the  very  word  Church  connects 
and  implies  all  that.    One  might  as  well  say  a  vertebrate  man,  or  a  stellar  star,. 


AUTHORITY.  175 


In  the  words  of  the  late  venerable  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Coit: 
"To  prejudiced  Protestants  who  ignorantly  eschew  the 
word  Catholic  as  dangerous,  it  may  be  enough  to  say,  it  is 
ridiculous  (not  to  use  a  more  solemn  word  — blasphemous) 
to  say  in  church,  in  God's  presence,  '  I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,'  and  to  repudiate  or  dishonor  the  word 
in  man''s  presence."    (Early  Hist.  Note,  p.  6.) 

"The  separation,"  says  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury  (late  Pro- 
fessor in  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  New  York), 
"was  from  the  Court  of  Rome  in  respect  to  its  claim  of  j  uris- 
diction  in  England,  and  not  from  the  Church  of  Rome  in 
respect  to  any  points  of  faith  or  order  that  had  been  ruled 
by  the  Catholic  Church.  Leaving  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to 
govern  the  Churches  of  Rome,  and  the  Churches  also  of 

as  an  "  Episcopal  Church."  Moreover,  the  Church  does  not  belong  to  the  Bish- 
ops, but  the  Bishops  to  the  Church.  If  we  must  call  our  Church  "Episcopal" 
just  because  it  has  Bishops,  why  not  call  it  Presbyterial  because  it  has  Presby- 
ters ?  Presbyters  are  just  as  distinctive  a  mark  of  the  Catholic  Church — of  the 
Catholic  Church  exclusively — as  Bishops  are,  for  no  body  can  have  Presbyters 
without  having  Bishops  to  make  them.  The  fact  of  our  having  Presbyters  differ- 
entiates us  as  widely  from  all  protestant  bodies  as  the  fact  of  our  having  Bishops, 
for  a  Presbyter  is  a  man  ordained  to  the  Christian  Priesthood  by  a  Bishop. 

Then,  too,  as  one  has  said:  "The  term  'Protestant  Episcopal'  has  never 
been  formally  adopted  as  a  title  for  our  Church.  *  *  *  The  title  stole  in 
upon  us  like  a  thief  in  the  night.  *  *  *  Who  put  it  there  [on  the  title-page]  1 
What  printer,  what  private  member  of  a  committee,  what  unauthorized  person  ? 
In  vain  have  I  searched  the  records  of  those  days  to  find  that  the  Convention  ever 
adopted  the  title-page  to  the  Prayer  Book.  *  *  *  It  was  never  formally  adopted 
as  such  by  the  Church  here  in  her  corporate  capacity.  The  fact  is,  the  question 
concerning  a  proper  title  for  the  Church  never  came  up.  The  utmost  that  can  be 
said  is  that  the  title  has  only  had  a  mere  quasi  adoption." — ('^Failure  of  Protes- 
tantism,''^ pp.  25  and  27.)  The  report  of  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Bishops, 
at  the  Gen.  Conv.  of  1883  (signed  by  the  Bishops  of  W.  N.  Y.,  Georgia,  and  Mich- 
igan), declares  that  the  "name  Protestant  Episcopal  was  forced  upon  us  by 
external  pressure  of  circumstances."  And  the  Bishop  of  Chicago  says,  in  his 
Convention  address,  1884  (See  Ch.  Eel.,  Aug.,  1884,  p.  429),  that  this  title  "was  at 
no  time  deliberately  selected  and  applied  to  herself  by  the  Church  in  this 
country." 

Finally,  the  name  P.  E.  is  neveV  used  by  intelligent  Churchmen  except  in 


17G  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

such  other  countries  as  deemed  it  for  their  benefit  to  con- 
tinue subject  to  his  jurisdiction,  the  Church  of  England, 
under  the  protection  of  the  State,  resumed  the  responsi- 
bility of  governing  herself  and  her  members  agreeably  to 
the  word  of  God  and  Catholic  tradition.  No  change  was 
made  which  offended  the  consciences  of  her  members. 
The  Church  remained  Apostolic  and  Catholic,  and  gave  to 
her  clergy  and  children  this  golden  Rule  of  Faith  : 

''  Preachers  shall,  in  the  first  place,  be  careful  never  to 
teach  anything  jfrom  the  pulpit,  to  be  religiously  held  and 
believed  by  the  people,  but  what  is  agreeable  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  collected  out  of 
that  doctrine  by  the  Catholic  Fathers  and  ancient  bishops.' 
(Decree  of  Convocation,  1571.) 

official  documents.  "American  Church"  is  tlie  wsxts  loqueiidi;  The  Catholic 
Church  in  the  United  Statics  op  America  would  be  more  exact. 

Our  present  civil  title  hurts  us  more  than  any  other  legacy  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  old  proverb  says:  "  Give  a  dog  a  bad  name,  and  hang  him."  The 
poor  fellow  may  be  as  faithful  as  "  Fido,"  but  his  name  ruins  him.  It  is  true 
our  nickname  (P.  E.)  does  not  touch  the  essence  of  our  Catholicity;  but  it  re- 
quires constant  explanation,  and  it  hinders  the  work  of  the  Church,  the  educa- 
tion of  our  people,  and  our  intercommunion  with  other  parts  of  the  Catholic 
Church  which  are  justly  suspicious  of  a  Church  "which  owns  so  bad  a  name." 
We  might  call  ourselves  Tlie  Prayer-Bookers,  or  The  Anti- Atheistic  Ecclesias- 
tical Church  Militant  here  upon  Earlh,  as  a  civil  designation.  It  M'oiild,  of 
course,  be  disrespectful  to  our  Holy  Maker;  but  we  would  noire  tlie  less  continue 
to  be  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  Is  it  not  best  to  call 
her  what  she  is  ?  The  General  Convention  of  1883,  from  considerations  of  exped- 
iency, failed  to  adopt  our  rightful  name.  But  as  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Greaves,  of  Vir- 
ginia, says  (see  his  "Vindication  of  the  Right  of  the  Anglican  Churches  to  the 
Use  of  the  Kame  Catholic,"  p.  54):  "If  the  question  had  been  as  to  the  right  to 
use  the  title  [Catholic],  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  the  whole  body  would 
have  voted  for  it."  Such  Right  will  not  long  have  to  wait  on  a  timid  and  (after 
all)  mistaken  expediency.  The  day  is  coming— God  hasten  it— when  our  legisla- 
tors [a  majority  of  the  House  of  Bishops  is  said  to  be  already  in  favor  of  it]  will 
give  our  Church  her  rightful  name,  to  which  our  present  nam  de  {juerre  will  give 
place  as  "Snowdown's  Knight"  to  "Scotland's  King,"  or  as  II  Bnudocaue  to 
"Harown  Alraschid;"  and  "P.  E."  will  in  the  future  be  looked  upon  merely  as 
the  (tl  as  of  our  youthful  dallyings,  the  nomen  jictumoi  our  protestant escapades. 
Our  rightful  name  will  then  bear  fruit  to  the  glory  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   ATTITUDE   OF   DISSENT   TOWARDS  EPISCOPACY. 

"A  self- formed  Priesthood,  and  the  Church  cast  forth 
To  the  chill  mountain  air." 

—Lyra  Apostolica,  p.  143. 

"It  is  required  now,  just  as  much  as  in  the  days  of  Christ's  ministry  on 
■earth,  that  no  man  shall  take  the  honor  of  the  Christian  Priesthood,  but  he  whom 
Christ,  as  Head  of  the  Church,  hath  chosen  and  ordained  to  that  office." — Binhop 
Mcllvaine. 

\7ERY  different  from  the  authoritative  and  Catholic 
reformation  of  the  English  Church  were  the  revolu- 
tionary Protestant  reformations  on  the  Continent,  which 
broke  altogether  with  the  past  and  lost  the  divinely  com- 
missioned ministry  of  the  Church.  Far  be  it  from  us, 
however,  to  condemn  a  movement  which,  though  less  suc- 
cessful, was  perhaps  as  earnest  and  sincere,  and,  from  the 
greater  abuses  of  Rome  on  the  continent,  more  imperatively 
necessary  than  our  own  reformation.  The  candid  student 
of  history,  however,  must  admit  that  for  the  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists  to  leave  the  corrupt  and  tyrannous  papal 
Churches  of  Europe  was  one  thing,  but  that  for  English 
Christians  to  behave  in  the  same  manner  toward  the 
already  freed,  purified,  and  comprehensive  Catholic  Church 
of  England  was  another  and  a  very  different  thing. 

The  changing  attitude  of  those  who  left  the  Historic 
Church,  toward  the  Apostolic  Ministry  is,  to  say  the  least, 


178  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

remarkable  and  instructive,  (a.)  First  they  revered  fche 
Episcopate,  longed  to  retain  it,  and  when  they  found  they 
had  lost  the  Apostolic  Succession,  sought  earnestly  to 
recover  it.  It  is  well  known  how  Luther  and  Melancthon 
believed  in  Episcopacy.  Their  confession  of  faith,^  speak- 
ing of  bishops,  says  :  "  The  Churches  ought  necessarily, 
and  jure  divino  to  obey  thein."  Melancthon  wrote  :  "  I 
would  to  God  it  lay  in  me  to  restore  the  government  of 
bishops.  For  I  see  what  manner  of  Church  we  shall  have, 
the  ecclesiastical  polity  being  dissolved."  Beza  protested  : 
"  If  there  be  any  (which  you  shall  hardly  persuade  me  to 
believe)  who  reject  the  whole  order  of  Episcopacy,  God 
forbid  that  any  man  of  sound  mind  should  assent  to  the 
madness  of  such  men."  Calvin,  in  his  commentary  on 
Titus  (I.,  5),  admits  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  "the 
parity  of  the  ministry."  Again  he  says  :  "  If  the  bishops 
so  hold  their  dignity,  that  they  refuse  not  to  submit  to 
Christ,  no  anathema  is  too  great  for  those  who  do  not 
regard  such  a  hierarchy  with  reverence  and  the  most 
implicit  obedience."  Says  Blondel,  a  learned  Presbyte- 
rian :  "  By  all  we  have  said  to  assert  the  rights  of  Presby- 
tery, we  do  not  intend  to  invalidate  the  ancient  and 
apostolical  constitutions  of  Episcopal  pre-eminence,  but 
that  wheresoever  it  has  been  put  down  or  violated,  it 
ought  to  be  reverently  restored."  The  tremendous  testi- 
mony of  Grotius  was  quoted  above  in  Chapter  XI.  And 
there  is  something  touching  and  pathetic  in  the  reply  of 
Dr.  Bogerman,  President  of  the  "  Synod  of  Dort,"  to  the 
English  visitors  (sent  over  by  King  James  I.)  when  they 
reminded  him  that  the  Reformed  Christians  of  Holland 

1.    Augsburg  (part  I.,  Art.  22), 


AUTHORITY.  179 


had  not  retained  the  Episcopate.  "  It  is  not  permitted 
us,"  said  he,  "to  be  so  blessed^'' — ^' Nobis  non  licet  esse  tarn 
beatis^  It  is  also  well  known  that  Calvin,  Bullinger,  and 
other  Protestant  leaders  wrote  to  King  Edward  VI.,  in 
1549,  with  a  view  to  securing  the  Episcopal  succession 
from  England.  The  letter  fell  into  the  hands  of  some 
Roman  Catholics,  who  forged  a  haughty  and  contemptu- 
ous reply.^ 

Such  testimony  might  be  multiplied  to  any  extent. 
Grotius,  Blondel,  Chamier,  Du  Moulin,  Cassaubon,  Beza, 
Bucer,  Le  Clerc,  Baxter,  Doddridge,  and  many  more, 
yielded  to  the  unanswerable  argument  for  the  universality 
of  Episcopacy  in  the  early  days,  and  used  to  place  its 
origin  either  with  the  Apostles,  or  at  least  as  far  back  as 
A,  D.  150.  And  it  has  been  shown  that  if  Episcopacy  pre- 
vailed then  it  must  have  prevailed  from  the  beginning,  for 
no  such  stupendous  a  revolution  could  have  taken  place 
within  fifty  years  of  St.  John's  death.^ 

2.  See  Kip's  Double  Witness,  p.  79. 

3.  This  attitude  of  dissenters  toward  Episcopacy  has  been  well  described 
by  Bowden,  Mines,  Kip  and  others  in  their  well  known  books. 

"There  is  yet  another  historical  presumption,  exceedingly  strong,  against 
those  who  now  slight  the  apostolic  ministry  and  orders.  The  unbroken  and 
unquestioning  usage  of  fifteen  hundred  years  is  in  itself  much.  For  how  could 
it  possibly  happen,  as  Hooker  well  asks,  that  all  that  time,  if  the  existing  episco- 
pacy were  wrong,  no  one  Church  ever  discovered  the  right  order,  or  doubted 
the  rightness  of  the  order  which  did  exist  ?  But  the  presumption  is  strengthened 
still  further  when  it  is  added  that  those  who  now  deny  episcopacy  did  not  begin 
by  doing  so,  but  were  led  by  circumstances  into  the  want  of  it,  and  then  gradu- 
ally, and  by  a  manifest  afterthought,  came  to  make  a  merit  of  their  own  defects, 
and  to  defend  as  right  what  at  first  they  only  endured  as  unavoidable.  *  *  * 
The  controversy  about  episcopacy,  or  about  orders,  was  not  that  which  either 
originated  the  Reformation,  or  even  occasioned  it,  or  by  which  men's  minds  were 
stirred  to  urge  that  Reformation  forwards.  It  was  a  controversy  which  grew  out 
of  circumstances,  and  was  taken  up  after  a  time  in  order  to  maintain  a  position 
which  no  reformed  community  had  ^.might  upon  its  mvn  merits."— "Haddan  on 
Apostolical  SiLCcession,  pp.  131, 136,  quoted  by  Eev.  Wm.  A.  Rich. 


180         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

(b.)  Then  came  a  period  of  blind  self-vindication,  when 
the  Protestant  organizations  having  (as  a  temporary  ex- 
pedient) set  up  a  non- Episcopal  ministry,  seemed  bound  to 
give  it  a  sort  of  ex  post  facto  justification  and  validity  by 
boldly  asserting  that  it  was,  forsooth,  the  primitive  order, 
and  that  Episcopacy  or  prelacy  (as  they  preferred  to  call 
it)  was  a  corrupt  and  tyrannous  usurpation.  This  as- 
sumption had  to  be  backed  by  the  most  arbitrary  exegesis 
of  Holy  Scripture,  and  the  most  amazing  handling  of  the 
Fathers  imaginable — it  was  indeed  translating  them  "  by 
the  hair  of  the  head  over  to  the  side  of  Presbyterianism." 
This  process  reached  its  climax  in  the  early  part  of  this 
century,  when  Dr.  Miller  (for  example)  blindly  and  reck- 
lessly proclaimed  that  "  for  the  first  two  hundred  years  after 
Christ"  Episcopacy  was  unknown  to  the  Church,  but  that 
"  toward  the  close  of  the  third  century  " — [Hear  it,  ye  that 
have  sat  with  me  at  the  feet  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  John, 
Ignatius,  Irenseus,  Tertullian,  Cyprian  !  !] — "  toward  the 
close  of  the  third  century  prelacy  was  gradually  and  insid- 
iously introduced."  (!) 

Again  he  says  :  "  We  find  no  evidence  whatever  within 
the  first  FOUR  (!)  centuries  that  the  Christian  Church  con- 
sidered diocesan  Episcopacy  the  Apostolic  and  primitive 
form.  *  *  *  It  is  not  true  that  any  one  of  the  fathers 
within  the  first  four  centuries,  does  assert  the  Apostolic 
institution  of  prelacy."  Dr.  McLeod,  of  New  York,  even 
claimed  that  the  sin  of  Episcopacy  was  so  great  that  no 
bishop  could  be  a  minister  of  Christ,  and  that  all  ordina- 
tions by  bishops  were  null  and  void. 

Those  were  days  of  ignorant,  bitter  and  unreasoning 
hostility  to  the  Church,  when  our  foes  cried  :  "  Down  with 


AUTHORITY.  181 


it,  down  with  it,  even  to  the  ground ! "  I  thank  God 
there  is  more  kindUness  and  candor,  as  well  as  more  truth 
and  light,  in  the  ecclesiastical  controversies  of  to-day. 

(c.)  The  extreme  anti-historical,  anti-catholic,  anti- 
scriptural  position  of  Dr.  Miller  and  his  school,  has  now 
given  way  to  a  sounder  scholarship  among  Dissenters,  and 
a  better,  though  not  yet  perfect,  appreciation  of  the  over- 
whelming evidence  on  the  side  of  primitive  Episcopacy. 

Dr.  Schaff,  a  scholarly  Presbyterian  divine,  and  a  pro- 
found student  of  Church  History,  in  speaking  of  the 
Angels  of  the  Seven  Churches,  frankly  remarks  :  "  The 
impartial  reader  must  allow  that  this  phraseology  of  the 
Apocalypse  already  looks  towards  the  idea  of  Episcopacy 
in  its  primitive  form  ;  that  is,  to  a  monarchical  concentra- 
tion of  governmental  power  in  one  person,  bearing  a  patri- 
archal relation  to  the  congregation,  and  responsible  in  an 
eminent  sense  for  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  whole. 

"This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  among  the 
immediate  disciples  of  John,  we  find  at  least  one — Poly- 
carp — who,  according  to  the  unanimous  tradition  of 
Irenseus  (his  own  disciple,  himself  a  bishop),  of  Tertullian, 
Eusebius,  and  Jerome,  was,  by  Apostolical  appointment, 
actually  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  one  of  the  seven  churches  of 
the  Apocal3'pse. 

"  Add  to  this  the  statement  of  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
that  John,  after  his  return  from  Patmos,  appointed  bish- 
ops ;  the  epistles  of  Ignatius  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century,  which  already  distinguished  the  bishop  from  the 
presbytery  at  the  head  of  the  congregation,  and  in  which 
the  three  orders  pyramidically  culminated  in  a  regular 
hierarchy  j    *     *     *    and  we  assuredly   have   much   in 


182         REA80JyS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

favor  of  the  hypothesis,  so  ingeniously  and  learnedly  set 
forth  of  late  by  Dr.  Rothe,  that  the  germs  of  Episcopacy 
are  to  be  found  as  early  as  the  close  of  the  first  century, 
and  particularly  in  the  sphere  of  the  later  labors  of  St. 
John.  *  *  *  In  addition  to  this,  however,  the  Episco- 
pal system  was  simultaneously  making  its  way  also  in 
other  parts  of  the  Church.     *     *    * 

"  If  now  we  consider  the  fact,  that  in  the  second  century 
the  Episcopal  system  existed  as  an  historical  fact  in  the 
whole  Church,  East  and  West,  and  was  unresistingly 
acknowledged,  nay,  universally  regarded,  as  at  least  indi- 
rectly of  divine  appointment,  we  can  hardly  escape  the 
conclusion  that  this  form  of  government  grew  out  of  the 
circumstances  and  wants  of  the  Church  at  the  end  of  the 
Apostolic  period,  and  could  not  have  been  so  quickly  and 
so  generally  introduced  without  the  sanction,  or  at  least 
the  acquiescence  of  the  surviving  Apostles,  especially  of 
John  who  labored  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  second 
century,  and  left  behind  him  a  number  of  venerable  dis- 
ciples. At  all  events  it  needs  a  strong  infusion  of  skepti- 
cism, or  of  traditional  prejudice,  to  enable  one  in  the  face 
of  these  facts  and  witnesses  to  pronounce  the  Episcopal 
government  of  the  ancient  Church  a  sheer  apostacy  from 
the  Apostolic  form,  and  a  radical  revolution."'*  f 

Again  Dr.  SchafF  says  :  "  It  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  the 
Episcopal  form  of  government  was  universally  established 
in  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  as  early  as  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century." 

4.  SchafE's  Apostolic  Church,  pp.  539-541,  quoted  in  that  new  and  most  con- 
vincing little  book,  "Plain  Footprints,  or  Divers  Orders  Traced  in  the  Scrip- 
tures," by  Rev.  H.  R.  Timlow,  p.  10. 


AUTHORITY.  183 


Dr.  Fisher,  of  New  Haven,  also  says  :  "All  candid 
scholars  must  concede  that  the  Episcopal  arrangement  in 
the  form  described  may  be  traced  back  to  the  verge  of  the 
Apostolic  age,  if  not  beyond." 

The  concessions  of  Mosheim,  Gieseler,  Neander,  and 
Hase,  are  scholarly  and  candid,  and  show  that  any  fair 
view  of  antiquity  compels  the  admission  of  the  univer- 
sality of  Episcopacy.  Their  testimony  is  too  long  to  quote 
here,5  so  I  give  but  a  single  sentence  from  Mosheim,  and 
one  from  Hase.  The  former  says  :  "  The  order  of  bishops 
could  not  have  originated  at  a  period  considerably  more 
recent  than  that  which  gave  birth  to  Christianity  itself." 
And  Hase  says :  "  The  Episcopate  was  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed pillar  which  sustains  the  whole  ecclesiastical 
fabric." 

AN   IMPORTANT   CONSIDERATION. 

If  Christ  appointed  any  ministry  at  all  for  His  Church, 
it  must  be  that  ministry  which,  existing  in  the  Early 
Church,  has  perpetuated  itself  through  the  ages. 

The  only  ministry  which,  as  an  historical  fact,  has  so 
perpetuated  itself,  is  the  Episcopal  ministry  —  it,  and  it 
alone,  has  organic  connection  with  those  to  whom  Christ 
gave  the  divine  commission. 

Has  that  ministry  no  authority  ?  Has  it  no  claims  upon 
Christian  men  ?     Let  us  reflect. 


5.    See  these  and  many  other  like  witnesses  in  "Plain  Footprints,"  chap.  1. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   ANGLICAN   CHURCH    AND   CONFIRMATION. 

"Vcni  Creator  Spiritus, 
Mentes  tuorum  visita, 
Implesiiperiia  gratia 
Quae  Tu  creasti  pectora." 

— Whitsun  Hymn,  by  Gregory  the  Great. 

"  Sapicntia,  inteUectus,  consilium,  fortitudo,  scientia,  pietas,  timor,  Domini.*^ 

"  Draw,  Holy  Ghost,  Thy  sevenfold  veil 
Between  us  and  the  fire  of  youth." 

—Keble's  Christian  Year. 

IN  connection  with  the  primitive  order  of  bishops  which 
the  Anglican  Church  has  retained  in  unbroken  suc-^ 
cession,  comes  the  consideration  of  an  important  and 
Sacramental  rite  which  it  belongs  to  bishops  alone  to 
administer,  viz.  :  Confirmation. 

Confirmation  is  defined  in  the  Church  Cydopssdia  as 
"The  imposition  of  the  bishop's  hands,  whereby  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  given  to  the  person  confirmed  ;  the 
strengthening  of  the  soul  by  the  grace  of  the  Spirit."  It 
is  an  Apostolic  Blessing  given  to  those  who  have  been 
baptized,  conveying  to  them  grace  and  spiritual  strength 
from  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  fit  them  for  the  worthy 
receiving  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  the  daily  living  of 
the  Christian  life.     It  is  the  completion  of  Holy  Baptism^ 


AUTHORITY.  185 


a  sort  of  lay-ordination  to  that  "royal  priesthood  "^  which 
is  the  privilege  of  all  believers.  It  was  typified  by  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  our  blessed  Lord  ajter  His 
Baptism  in  the  River  Jordan.^  It  was  implied  in  the 
words  of  St.  Peter :  "  Be  baptized  every  one  of  you, 
*  *  *  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.''^  ^ 
It  seems  to  be  alluded  to  in  the  beautiful  Hebrew  parallel- 
ism of  St.  Paul :  "  But  ye  are  washed  [i.  e.,  baptized],  but 
ye  are  sanctified  [i.  e.,  confirmed],  but  ye  are  justified  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  [i.  e.,  in  Baptism],  and  by  the 
Spirit  of  our  God  [i.  e.,  in  Confirmation]."'*  The  seven- 
fold gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  "  the  inward  part  or  thing 
signified  ; "  the  laying  on  of  Apostolic  hands  is  "  the  out- 
ward visible  sign  or  form."  It  is  variously  called  Con- 
firmation, or  the  strengthening,  from  the  idea  conveyed  in 
Eph.,  iii.,  16  ;  the  Seal,  from  Eph.,  i.,  13,  and  iv.,  30 ;  the 
Chrism,  from  I.  St.  John,  ii.,  27  ;  and  the  Laying-on-of- 
hands,  from  Heb.,  vi.,  2,  where  it  is  associated  with 
repentance,  faith  and  Baptism,  as  being  one  of  "the  prin- 
ciples of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,"  the  "  Foundation  "  of  the 
Christian  life. 

That  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Apostles  themselves  to 
confirm  is  clearly  shown  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the  Acts. 
St,  Philip  the  Deacon  went  down  to  Sanjaria,  preached 
the  Gospel,  and  baptized  many  converts.  As  a  deacon  he 
could  preach  and  baptize,  but  could  no  more  confirm  than 
he  could  ordain.  What  was  to  be  done?  St.  Luke  tells 
us  :  "  Now  when  the  Apostles,  which  were  at  Jerusalem, 
heard  that  Samaria  had  received  the  word  of  God,  they 

1.  I.  St.  Pet.,  ii.,  9.    2.  St.  Matth.,  iii.,  16.    3.  Acts,  ii.,  38.    4.  I.  Cor.,  vi.,  11. 


186  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

sent  unto  them  Peter  and  John ;  who,  when  they  were 
come  down,  prayed  for  them  that  they  might  receive  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  (for  as  yet  He  was  fallen  upon  none  of  them  ; 
only  they  were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus). 
Then  laid  they  their  hands  on  them,  and  they  received 
the  Holy  Ghost."  *  *  *  "Through  the  laying  on  of 
the  Apostles'  hands  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given."  ^  Unless 
Confirmation  had  been  an  important  rite,  one  of  "the 
j)rinciples  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,"  the  Apostles  would 
hardly  have  taken  the  trouble  to  send  two  of  their  most 
prominent  bishops,  SS.  Peter  and  John,  to  administer  the 
rite  to  the  baptized  converts  of  St.  Philip. 

Nearly  twenty  years  after  this,  St.  Paul,  passing  through 
Ephesus,  found  there  twelve  men  who  had  received  the 
Baptism  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  which  was  not  Christian 
Baptism,  not  the  "  Washing  of  Regeneration,"  not  the  New 
Birth  "  of  Water  and  the  Spirit,"  but  merely,  as  St.  Paul 
showed  them,  a  "Baptism  of  repentance."  Then  he 
preached  Christ  unto  them,  and  they  were  Christened  or 
received  Christian  Baptism.  After  that  St.  Paul  "laid  his 
hands  upon  them,"  and  they  received  the  Holy  Ghost.^ 
In  other  words,  they  were  sealed  and  received  the  earnest 
of  the  Spirit  in  their  hearts  (II.  Cor.,  i.  22). 

These  allusions  to  the  Apostolic  custom  of  Confirma- 
tion in  the  New  Testament,  are  corroborated  by  the 
universal  practice  of  the  Church  ever  after.  Baptism  was 
held  to  be  the  initiation  of  a  child  (or  an  adult)  into  the 
dhurch  ;  but  Baptism  was  invariably  followed,  either  at 
once  or  after  an  interval,  by  the  laying  on  of  the  bishop's 

5.  Acts,  viii.,  14-18.    6.  Acts,  xix.,  5-6. 


AUTHORITY.  187 


hands.  In  cathedral  towns  and  in  small  dioceses,  where 
the  bishop  himself  could  be  present  at  all  Christenings, 
whether  of  infants  or  adults,  the  Laying-on-of-hands  ap- 
pears to  have  followed  immediately  after  the  Baptism,  so 
that  it  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  almost  a  part  of  it.  But 
where  it  was  impossible  for  the  bishop  to  be  present  at 
the  Baptism,  the  Laying-on-of-hands  was  deferred  until 
he  could  be  present  and  perform  the  act  in  person  "  after 
the  example  of  the  Holy  Apostles."  Thus  rose  the  system 
of  regular  Episcopal  visitations  in  every  parish,  that  all 
who  were  admitted  into  the  fellowship  of  Christ's  religion 
might  be  brought  en  rapport  with  the  Chief  Pastors  of  the 
Church,  might  receive  the  touch  and  the  benediction  of 
an  Apostle.  All  this  may  be  gathered  from  a  few  passages 
fi-om  the  Fathers. 

Tertullian  (born  a.  d.  135),  after  speaking  of  Baptism, 
says  :  "  Next  to  this  the  hand  is  laid  upon  us,  calling 
upon  and  invoking  the  Holy  Ghost  through  the  Bless- 
ing."^ St.  Cyprian,  the  Bishop  of  Carthage  (born  about 
A.  D.  200),  says  :  "  The  custom  has  also  descended  to  us 
that  those  who  have  been  baptized  be  brought  to  the 
bishops  of  the  Church,  that  by  our  prayer  and  by  the 
Laying-on-of-hands,  they  may  obtain  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  be  consummated  with  the  Seal  of  the  Lord^^  St.  Jer- 
ome (born  A.  D.  340)  says  :  "  It  is  the  custom  of  our 
Churches  that  hands  be  laid  on  those  who  have  been  bap- 
tized and  the  Holy  Ghost  invoked  over  them."  But  lest 
any  one  should  imagine  that  this  Laying-on-of-hands  was 
-administered  by  the  presbyters  or  deacons,  he  says  explic- 

7.  Tert.  De  Bap.,  vii.,  and  vili.    8.  Gyp.  Eplst.,  Ixsiii.,  8. 


188         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

itly  :  "  This  is  the  usage  of  our  Churches.  The  bishop 
goes  forth  and  makes  a  tour  in  order  to  lay  his  hands  and 
to  invoke  the  Holy  Ghost  on  those  in  the  small  towns 
who  have  been  baptized  by  our  priests  and  deacons." 

But  why  multiply  instances?  Let  it  suffice  to  have 
seen  that  St.  Paul  declares  this  Laying-on-of-hands  to  be 
one  of  the  "  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,"  that  the 
allusions  in  the  Acts  show  that  it  was  the  practice  of  the 
Apostles  to  lay  their  hands  on  the  baptized.  In  addition 
to  which  the  testimony  above  cited  —  of  one  who  lived  on 
the  verge  of  the  Apostolic  age,  of  another  in  the  next  cen- 
tury, and  of  another  in  the  century  following  —  shows- 
that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Catholic  Church  that  this 
rite  should  be  administered  by  the  successors  of  the  Apos- 
tles, with  the  imposition  of  hands,  and  with  prayer  for 
the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Confirmation  was  therefore  Apostolic  and  universal,  a 
note  of  the  Church,  a  mark  of  primitive  Catholicity. 
Said  a  learned  Presbyterian  divine,  while  working  his  way 
back  into  the  historic  Church  :  *'  I  could  not  find  in  an- 
tiquity any  beginning  to  this  '  Laying-on-of-hands,'  but  at 
the  hands  of  the  Apostles.  I  would  trace  it  beyond  the 
Apostles  to  the  Jewish  Synagogue,  where  I  could  find  it 
even  to  this  day  intervening  between  Circumcision  and  the 
Passover." 

Considering  the  primitive  character,  the  Apostolic  au- 
thority, the  scriptural  evidence,  the  testimony  of  the 
Fathers,  and  the  universal  practice  of  the  Church,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  intrinsic  grace  and  practical  utility  of  the 
solemn  act  which  would  give  to  every  child  of  the  Church, 
the  paternal  benediction  of  an  Apostle  —  which  binds  the 


AUTHORITY.  189 


font  to  the  altar  —  it  seems  to  me  that  no  Church  can 
claim  to  have  continued  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Apostles, 
or  to  have  retained  all  the  marks  of  Catholicity,  unless  it 
has  kept  this  "  Venerable  Blessing,"  ^  this  Apostolic  rite. 

The  Holy  Eastern  Church  with  its  eighty-five  million 
members,  has  done  so,  albeit  with  a  certain  irregularity  in 
the  mode  and  form  of  administration.  The  Latin  Church 
has  done  so,  although  the  essence  of  the  rite  is  somewhat 
obscured  by  various  additional  ceremonies.  How  is  it 
with  our  own  Church,  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  English- 
speaking  race  ?  I  answer,  on  this  point  as  on  all  the  essen- 
tials of  the  Catholic  religion  — "  the  principles  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ "  —  our  Church  has  "  continued  steadfastly 
in  the  Fellowship  of  the  Apostles." 

The  venerable  Bede  tells  us  how  St.  Cuthbert,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  early  in  the  eighth  century,  used  to 
go  all  over  his  diocese,  bountifully  distributing  counsels  of 
salvation,  "  and  laying  his  hands  on  the  baptized  that  they 
might  receive  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  There  is 
still  extant  a  beautiful  Confirmation  office  which  was 
used  in  our  Church's  grand  old  diocese  of  York  some 
twelve  hundred  years  ago. 

The  prayer  in  our  present  Confirmation  office,  begin- 
ning :  "Almighty  and  everlasting  God  Who  hast  vouch- 
safed to  regenerate  these  Thy  servants,"  has  come  down  to 
us  by  the  constant  use  of  the  Church  from  remote  antiquity, 
probably  from  Apostolic  times.  It  was  used  in  Eng- 
land as  far  back  as  we  have  records  of  the  services  ;  it  was 

9.  See  a  capital  sermon  with  tliis  title  by  the  Rev.  H.  F.  Hill,  rector  of 
Montpelier,  Vt.  It,  with  "Bishop  Randall  on  Confirmation,"  and  especially 
Bishop  Lay's  recent  monograph  on  the  subject  may  be  used  to  great  advantage  in 
parish  work. 


190         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

used  by  St.  Ambrose  in  the  ancient  cathedral  of  Milan,  in 
the  year  375,  more  than  fifteen  centuries  ago,  and  still 
earlier  ;  it  is  found  also  in  the  Confirmation  offices  of  the 
Greek  Church. 

In  the  Anglican  Church  since  the  sixteenth  century  some 
of  the  unnecessary  accessories  of  Confirmation,  such  as  the 
nse  of  holy  oil,  the  signing  of  the  cross,  and  the  blow  on 
the  cheek,  which  had  gradually  been  added  to  the  simple 
sacrament  of  the  Laying-on-of-hands,  have  been  generally 
laid  aside,  and  the  rite  is  administered  among  us  in  its 
most  primitive  and  Catholic  form. 

I  know  not  what  words  the  Apostles  used  at  the  precise 
moment  of  the  imposition  of  hands  ;  but  they  can  hardly 
have  used  words  much  more  appropriate  than  the  sentence 
which  our  own  Church  puts  in  the  mouth  of  the  confirm- 
ing bishop  : 

"Defend,  O  Lord,  this  Thy  child  with  Thy  heavenly 
grace ;  that  he  may  continue  Thine  forever,  and  daily 
increase  in  Thy  Holy  Spirit  more  and  more,  until  he  come 
unto  Thy  everlasting  kingdom.     Amen."^^ 

Indeed  the  mere  witnessing  of  the  sacred  joyous  service 
of  Confirmation,  in  which  the  venerable  Father  in  God, 
lays  his  hands  on  the  children  of  the  Church  and  blesses 
them  in  God's  name,  has  been  the  means  of  bringing  back 
many  a  wandering  Christian  to  his  own  true  home 

While  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  Confirmation  to 
prevent  its  being  properly  administered  to  a  little  child, 

10.  The  writer,  however,  begs  to  suggest  to  those  who  are  interested  in  P. 
B.  revision,  whether  the  meaning  of  Confirmation  would  not  be  more  clearly 
expressed  if  the  first  word,  "Defend,"  were  changed  to  co»^rm  — Confirm,  O 
Lord,  this  Thy  child,  etc.  The  meaning  would  really  be  the  same  for  the  defense 
alluded  to  comes  only  through  being  "  strengthened  [confirmed]  with  might  by 
His  Spirit  in  the  inner  man."    Eph.,  iii.,  16 


AUTHORITY.  191 


immediately  after  Baptism  (as  is  the  usual  custom  in  the 
Greek  Church),  the  whole  Western  Church — both  Angli- 
can ^1  and  Roman  ^^ — has  thought  good  to  order  that  none 
shall  be  confirmed  but  such  as  understand  the  rudiments 
of  Christian  faith  and  duty,  and  are  old  enough  to  "  renew 
the  solemn  promise  and  vow  "  that  Avas  made  at  their 
Baptism.  No  age  is  specified,  but  any  ordinary  child, 
properly  brought  up,  ought  to  be  desirous  of  Confirma- 
tion, and  certainly  sufficiently  instructed,  when  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  some  much  younger, 
others  not  so  young.  It  is  at  least  the  design  of  the 
Church  that  children,  made  members  thereof  in  infancy 
by  Holy  Baptism,  shall  be  brought  up  as  children,  not  as 
strangers  ;  and  that  as  soon  as  they  are  come  to  years  of 
discretion,  they  shall  "  be  brought  to  the  bishop  to  be  con- 
firmed by  him,"  and  then  be  admitted  to  the  Table  of  the 
Lord.  This  is  not  "  joining  the  Church  ;  "  that  was  done 
fully  and  once  for  all  in  Holy  Baptism,  wherein  the  person 
is  "regenerate  and  grafted  into  the  body  of  Christ's 
Church."  Dissenters,  therefore  who  desire  to  conform  to 
the  Church,  ought  not  to  feel  aggrieved  when  they  are 
asked  to  be  confirmed.  The  ordeal  called  "joining  the 
church,"  to  which  they  may  have  submitted  when  they 
became  communicants  of  their  respective  denominations, 
is  not  Confirmation,  nor  indeed  even  analogous  thereto. 
So  that  to  thoughtful  Christians  who  have  been  brought 
up  in  non-conformity  to  the  historic  Catholic  Church, 
Confirmation,  instead  of  being  in  any  sense  an  obstacle, 

11.  See  third  rubric  after  Catechism  in  P.  B..  closing  exhortation  in  Baptis- 
mal Office,  and  preface  to  Confirmation  Office;  also  Canon  61  of  the  Eng.  Ch. 

12.  For  R.  C.  usage,  see  Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  III.,  7.  "  The 
time  there  marlied  out  for  Confirmation  is  between  seven  and  twelve  years  of 
age."    In  the  Anglican  Church  the  usual  age  is  from  twelve  to  sixteen. 


192         REASOI^S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

ought  to  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  chief  inducements 
for  returning  to  the  Church,  in  order  to  obtain  a  grace  and 
a  blessing  to  which  as  baptized  Christians  they  were  justly- 
entitled,  but  of  which  they  have  been  deprived  by  the 
insufficiency  of  the  bishopless  systems  of  Protestant  dissent. 

So  keenly  is  "  the  conscious  want  of  a  connecting  link 
between  Baptism  and  Communion "  felt  by  those  who 
have  lost  the  Apostolic  rite  of  Confirmation,  that  most 
Continental  Protestants  (notably  the  great  body  of  Luther- 
ans) have  retained  the  outward  form  of  Confirmation  even 
though  they  have  no  ministry  empowered  to  bestow  it. 
"I  sincerely  wish,"  said  Calvin,  "that  we  retained  this 
custom  of  the  Laying-on-of-hands,  which  was  practiced 
among  the  ancients."  The  Presbyterians  and  the  Bap- 
tists in  this  country  have  officially  declared  their  belief  in 
it.^^  Had  Confirmation,  even  as  an  empty  form  and  with- 
out the  Apostolic  Ministry,  been  retained  among  our 
dissenting  brethren,  I  am  very  sure  that  the  heresy  which 
denies  Baptism  to  little  children  would  never  have  made 
such  havoc  as  it  has  in  the  religious  life  of  this  age.  It  is 
largely  for  want  of  Confirmation  that  Baptism  has  been 
transferred,  with  deplorable  results,  from  infancy  to  adult 
age,  in  order  to  have  some  rite  or  ceremony  of  prepara- 
tion for  first  Communion. 

To  all  thoughtful  Non-conformists,  as  well  as  to  Church- 
men, who  have  not  fully  grasped  the  meaning  of  Confir- 
mation, I  beg  to  speak  a  serious  and  loving  word  —  call  it 
preaching,  if  you  will  : 

You  believe  in  prayer  ;  you  believe  that  God  in  answer 
to  prayer  gives  special  grace  through  His  appointed  ordi- 

13.    See  Kandall  on  Confirmation. 


AUTHORITY.  193 


nances.  Now  go  back  in  thought  to  the  first  age  of  the 
Church.  Suppose  you  are  one  of  those  Samaritans  whom 
St.  Philip  has  converted.  You  have  repented  of  your  sins  ; 
you  have  professed  your  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
you  have  been  baptized  into  the  Church.  But  St.  Philip 
tells  you  that  two  of  the  chief  pastors  of  the  Church, 
the  Apostles  Peter  and  John,  are  coming  down  from  Jeru- 
salem to  give  you  their  official  benediction,  to  lay  their 
hands  on  your  head  and  to  invoke  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
you.  With  what  eagerness  would  you  seize  the  precious 
opportunity  !  You  would  hasten  to  the  place  appointed ; 
and  as  soon  as  you  saw  the  benignant  face  of  St.  Peter  or 
heard  the  loving  voice  of  St.  John,  and  realized  that  you 
were  in  the  presence  of  one  whom  your  Divine  Master  had 
commissioned  as  an  Apostolic  Bishop  or  Overseer  of  His 
Church,  would  you  not  rejoice  to  have  him  lay  his  hands 
on  your  head  and  bless  you  in  God's  name  ?  Well,  that 
is  Confirmation.  The  bishops  who  visit  our  parishes  every 
year  come  with  the  same  office  and  authority  as  Peter  and 
John,  when  they  made  the  first  Episcopal  visitation  of 
Samaria.  If  you  believe  in  God  ;  if  you  desire  grace  and 
help  and  strength, —  come  in  faith,  and  as  the  good  bishop 
after  the  example  of  his  predecessors,  the  Holy  Apostles, 
lays  his  hands  on  your  head  and  blesses  you  in  God's 
name,  you  will  be  blessed  indeed. 

In  Confirmation,  then,  as  in  the  sacrament  of  Regenera- 
tion, the  Catholic  Faith,  and  Holy  Orders,  the  Anglican 
Church  has  continued  steadfastly;  and  it  is  permitted  us 
to  see  another  golden  strand  in  the  cord  which  binds  our 
Church  to  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  Apostles,  the  Church 
which  Christ  founded  on  the  Rock. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCH  AND  THE  BREAKING  OF  THE  BREAD, 

"  And  then— as  when  the  doors  were  shat, 
With  Jesus  left  alone — 
The  faithful  sup  with  Christ,  and  He 
In  breaking  bread  is  known." 

-'Bishop  Coxe,  Christian  Bdttads. 

IN  the  history  of  eternity  there  has  been  but  one  true 
sacrifice — that  of  the  Son  of  God  Who  made  "  by  His 
one  oblation  of  Himself  once  ofiFered,  a  full,  perfect,  and 
sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world."  This,  the  so-called  sacrifices  of  the 
Patriarchal  and  Jewish  dispensations  foreshadowed  ;  to  it 
they  pointed  ;  from  it  they  derived  whatever  of  meaning, 
virtue,  grace  they  possessed. 

In  like  manner,  our  great  High  Priest,  at  the  ofiering^ 
■up  of  Himself,  "did  institute,  and  in  His  holy  Gospel 
command  us  to  continue  a  perpetual  memory  of  that  His 
precious  death  and  sacrifice."  The  Eucharist,  so  far  as  its 
sacrificial  character  is  concerned,  differs  from  the  sacrifices 
of  the  elder  dispensation  chiefly  in  point  of  time.  They 
prefigured  ;  it  commemorates.  They  were  a  type ;  it  is  a- 
memorial.  They  were  the  shadow  on  the  dial  before  the 
hour  of  noon  ;  it  the  shadow  on  the  dial  after  the  sun  has 
past  the  meridian. 


AUTHORITY.  195 


Christ  bade  His  Church  :  "  Do  this  for  My  memorial.  "^ 
And  the  Church  has  done  it,  not  as  a  renewing  of  Christ's 
sacrifice,  but  as  a  commemoration  of  it,  a  pleading  of  it 
before  the  Father,  a  "  showing  of  the  Lord's  death  till  He 
come."^  And  so  from  St.  Paul^and  St.  Ignatius.^  nay, 
even  from  our  Lord  Himself,^  to  the  American  Prayer 
Book,^  the  Table  of  the  Lord  has  been  authoritatively  (as 
it  is  almost  always  popularly)  called  the  altar,  because 
on  it  is  celebrated  the  sacrificial  memorial  of  the  one  great 
Sacrifice. 

Scholarly  readers  will  recall  the  eloquent  passage  in 
Origen's  Second  Homily,  in  which  he  speaks  of  seeing 
"Churches  built,  and  Altars  not  sprinkled  with  the 
blood  of  flocks,  but  consecrated  by  the  precious  blood 
of  Christ."  Also  the  clear  statement  of  Athanasius,  in 
his  Disputation  against  Arius,  in  the  Council  of  Nicsea,  in 
which  he  says  that  Christ  "  sent  forth  the  Apostles,  fur- 
nishing a  Table,  that  is,  the  Holy  Altar,  and  on  it 
heavenly  and  immortal  Bread." 

1.    Eis  ten  emen  anamnesin.    St.  Luke,  xxii.,  19.     2.    I.  Cor.,  xi.,  26. 

3.    We  have  an  altar,  etc.    Heb.,  xiii.,  10;  cf.  also  I.  Cor.,  x.,  18, 19, 20,  21. 

4  "  St.  Ignatius,  who  lived  in  the  Apostolic  age  itself,  calls  the  Lord's  Table 
the  ^^Altar.''  See  Epist.  to  the  Philadelphians,  Chap.  iv.  Other  early  fathers 
frequently  allude  to  the  Christian  altar."    Blunt,  An.  P.  B.,  p.  158. 

5.  St.  Matth.,  v.,  23  and  24.    See  Sadler's  commentary  on  this  passage:  "  If 
•  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  to  be  for  the  guidance  of  the  Church  in  all  time, 

then  there  must  be  in  God's  Church,  at  all  times,  something  which  can  properly 
be  called  an  '  altar,' "  etc. 

6.  See  Office  of  Institution,  Am.  P.  B  ,  4th  rubric,  et  passim.  Also  the  Eng- 
lish Coronation  Service  and  the  English  Canons.  It  is  fair,  however,  to  say  that 
the  English  Coronation  Service  was  never  presented  to  Convocation,  and  has 
thus  never  received  the  sanction  of  the  Church.  It  is  a  purely  State  service.  It 
is  important  to  remember  this,  as  (while  it  uses  the  word  Catholic)  it  also  usee 
the  word  Protestant  in  the  King's  oath.  William  III.  introduced  the  word  as  a  slap 
on  the  face  of  the  Church  for  refusing  to  sanction  it.  Of  course,  it  is  inter 
preted  to  mean  simply  not  Romish. 


196  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

This  aspect  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  has  been  by  some 
distorted,  and  by  others  entirely  ignored.  Judged  by  the 
usage  of  the  early  Church,  the  Romanists  have  dispropor- 
tionately exaggerated  it,  and  the  Protestant  Dissenters 
have  lost  sight  of  it  altogether — giving  not  even  a  minimum 
of  recognition  to  the  divine  system  of  priest,  altar,  sacri- 
fice.''' Between  these  two  extremes,  the  Anglo-Catholic 
Church  has  maintained  a  safe,  primitive,  and  practical 
medium.  Like  the  early  Church,  she  gives  due  recogni- 
tion to  the  sacrificial  idea  by  requiring  (as  she  has  always 
done)  that  no  one  but  a  lawfully  ordained  Priest  (sacerdos) 
shall  present  the  "  Pure  Offering  "  upon  the  Holy  Table, 
consecrate  the  Eucharist,  and  pray  the  Father  to  "  accept 
this  our  Sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving."  The  ideal 
expression  of  the  Anglican  view  (which,  as  has  been  said, 
is  the  primitive)  is  to  be  found  in  the  Scottish  and  Amer- 
ican Liturgies,  especially  in  that  meaningful  passage: 
"  We,  Thy  humble  servants,  do  celebrate  and  make  here 
before  Thy  Divine  Majesty,  with  these  Thy  holy  gifts 
which  we  now  oflFer  unto  Thee,  the  Memorial  Thy  Son 
hath  commanded  us  to  make." 

On  the  other  hand,  our  Church  leaves  no  room  for  the 
undue  and  disproportionate  magnifying  of  this  aspect  of 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar.     (See  Article  xxxi.) 

The  Eucharist,  however,  according  to  the  teaching  of 
Christ  and  St.  Paul,  and  according  to  the  usage  of  the 
Early  Church,  as  apparent  in  the  primitive  Liturgies  and 
the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  was  not  only  a  memorial  of 
Christ's  sacrifice,  but  also  a  Holy  Communion  or  sacra- 
mental means  of  communicating  to  us  the  highest  of  all 

7.    See  Bp.  Andrewes',  vol.  v.,  p.  66,  on  "Altar,  Priest,"  etc. 


AUTHORITY.  197 


God's  gifts  of  grace,  uniting  us  to  Him  and  to  one  another 
in  the  blessed  "  Communion  of  Saints."  As  St.  Paul  says  : 
*'  The  Cup  of  Blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  Com- 
munion of  the  Blood  of  Christ?  The  Bread  which  we 
break,  is  it  not  the  Communion  of  the  Body  of  Christ  ? 
For  we  being  many  are  one  bread  and  one  body  ;  for  we 
are  all  partakers  of  that  one  Bread."  ^  The  gift  conveyed 
is  nothing  less  than  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Incarnate  God, 
whereby  we  are  made  partakers  of  Him — as  St.  Peter  says, 
**  partakers  of  the  divine  nature." 

Look  at  the  Bible-history  of  the  Holy  Communion. 
Our  blessed  Lord  in  His  memorable  discourse  at  Caper- 
naum (St.  John,  vi.),  said  :  *'  I  am  the  living  Bread  which 
came  down  from  heaven  ;  if  any  man  eat  of  this  Bread, 
he  shall  live  forever  ;  and  the  Bread  which  I  shall  give  is 
MY  FLESH  which  I  wiU  give  for  the  life  of  the  world." 

No  wonder  that  the  Jews  strove  among  themselves,  say- 
ing, "  How  can  this  man  give  us  His  flesh  to  eat  ?  "  For 
a  mere  man  to  utter  these  words,  would  have  been  the 
height  of  madness,  and  the  Jews  would  have  been  right. 
But  it  was  Incarnate  God  Who  spake  ;  He  meant  what 
He  said,  and  therefore  He  repeated  His  assertion  only 
more  emphatically:  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except 
ye  eat  the  Flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  His  Blood,  ye 
have  no  life  in  you.  WTioso  eateth  My  Flesh,  and  drinketh 
My  Blood,  hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day.  For  My  Flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My 
Blood  is  drink  indeed.  He  that  eateth  My  Flesh,  and 
drinketh  My  Blood,  dwelleth  in  Me,  and  I  in  Him.  He 
that  eateth  Me,  even  he  shall  live  by  Me." 

8.    I.  Cor  ,  x,  16  and  17. 


198         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


These  words  were  so  straHge,  so  unlike  the  words  of  any 
one  else,  that  many  of  our  Lord's  disciples  said:  "This 
is  a  hard  saying,  who  can  hear  it?  "  And  many  of  them 
from  that  time  went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  Him. 
Nevertheless  He  would  not  retract  His  words,  those  "  words 
of  eternal  life." 

Doubtless  the  faithful  ones  who  still  clung  to  Him  were 
troubled,  and  cast  in  their  minds  what  He  might  mean  ; 
but  they  had  not  long  to  wait.  For  on  the  night  on  which 
He  was  betrayed,  "  Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed  it,  and 
brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  and  said  :  "  '  Take, 
eat  ;  THIS  IS  MY  BODY.'  And  He  took  the  cup  and 
gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  '  Drink  ye  all  of 
it;  for  THIS  IS  MY  BLOOD.'" » 

He  said  we  must  eat  His  Flesh  and  drink  His  Blood  , 
and  then  to  show  us  what  He  meant,  He  instituted  the 
Holy  Communion,  saying  :  "  This  is  My  Body,"  "  This  is 
My  Blood."  St.  Paul  also  teaches  that  the  unworthy 
receiver  of  the  Bread  and  Wine,  is  "  guilty  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  the  Lord^  ^*^  His  sin  consists  in  "  not  discern- 
ing the  Lord's  Bod3'." 

St.  Ignatius  speaks  of  certain  heretics,  who  "  confess  not 
the  Eucharist  to  be  the  Flesh  of  our  Saviour  Christ."  " 

Justin  Martyr,  who  gives  us  the  first  graphic  account 
of  the  administration  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  says  :  "  We 
do  not  receive  these  elements  as  common  bread  and  com- 
mon drink,  but  we  have  been  taught  that  the  food  which 
has  been  eucharistically  blessed  is  the  Flesh  and  Blood  of 
that  same  Incarnate  Jesus."  ^^    Similar  testimony  might 

9.  St.  Matthew,  xxvi.,  26-28.    10.  I.  Cor.,  xi.,  27.    11.  Ad.  Smyr.,  Ch.  vii. 
\i.  1.  Apol.,  LXVI. 


AUTHORITY.  199 


be  brought  forward  to  any  extent  showing  that  in  the  Holy- 
Communion  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  (as  our  arti- 
cle says)  "given,  taken,  and  eaten." 

On  the  other  hand,  oui"  blessed  Lord  and  St.  Paul  taught, 
and  the  Early  Church  believed,  that  the  bread  and  wine, 
although  after  Consecration  properly  called  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ,  nevertheless  are  still  bread  and  wine,  hav- 
ing no  change  of  substance.  Christ  calls  the  consecrated 
wine  His  Blood,  but  He  also  calls  it  the  "  fruit  of  the 
Vine."^^  St.  Paul  calls  the  consecrated  bread  not  only  the 
Body  of  Christ,  but  still  bread,  "  for,"  says  he,  "  we  are  all 
partakers  of  that  one  bread."  ^^  And  again  "As  often  as  ye 
do  eat  this  bread;"  and  "  Whosoever  shall  eat  this  bread  ; " 
and  "So  let  him  eat  of  this  bread." ^^  The  Fathers  also 
assert  the  same.  Says  St.  Irenseus  :  "  The  bread  from 
the  earth,  receiving  the  invocation  of  God,  is  no  longer 
common  bread,  but  the  Eucharist,  consisting  of  two  things 
—  an  earthly,  and  a  heavenly."  ^^  St.  Chrysostom  says 
that  the  bread  "  when  once  Divine  Grace  has,  through  the 
intervention  of  the  priest,  sanctified  it,  is  worthy  to  be 
<;alled  the  Lord's  Body,  although  the  nature  of  bread 
remains^  '^'^  Theodoret  says  that  Christ  "  honored  the  sym- 
bols which  are  seen  with  the  title  of  bread  and  wine,  not 
changing  theirnature,  but  adding  grace  to  the  nature."  ^^  And 
Gelasius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  a.  d.  492,  says  :  "  The  grace 
of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  which  we  receive  is  a 
Divine  thing,  wherefore  also  we  are  by  the  same  made  par- 


13.  St.  Mark,  xiv.,  25.  14.  I.  Cor.,  x.,  17.  15.  I.  Cor.,  xi.,  26-28.  16.  Adv. 
Hser.,  IV.,  IS,  5.  17.  Epis.  ad  Caes.,  0pp.  T.,  III.,  p.  744,  Ed.  Ben.  18.  T.,  IV., 
25,  Ed.  Sch. 


200         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

takers  of  the  Divine  nature  ;  and  yet  the  substance  and 
nature  of  bread  and  ivine  ceaseth  not  to  6e."  ^^ 

Now,  if  we  care  anything  for  the  teaching  of  Christ  and 
of  St.  Paul,  and  anything  for  the  belief  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  its  purest  days,  we  must  admit  two  things: 
First,  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  in  some  true  sense  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ ;  and  secondly,  that  they  are  still 
bread  and  wine. 

It  is  altogether  unnecessary  to  assume  that  there  is  any 
contradiction  or  inconsistency  in  this  twofold  truth.  From 
Augustine,  and  even  Irenseus,  the  Church  has  had  a  sim- 
ple and  comprehensive  doctrine  which  saves  both  sides  of 
the  truth,  viz.,  that  so  well  expressed  in  our  Catechism^ 
that  a  Sacrament  has  two  parts,  the  "  outward  visible  sign, 
and  the  inward  spiritual  grace."  The  Bible  itself  demands 
this  definition. 

Such  was  the  belief  of  the  early  Church ;  and  our  Lit- 
urgy, Catechism,  Articles  and  Homilies  show  that  such  i& 
the  doctrine  of  the  Anglican  Church  to-day.  "  What," 
says  the  EngUsh  Church  Catechism, "  is  the  outward  part  or 
sign  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  Bread  and  Wine,  which  the 
Lord  hath  commanded  to  be  received.  What  is  the  in- 
ward part  or  thing  signified?  The  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ,  which  are  verily  and  in  deed  taken  and  eaten  by 
the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper." 

Diverging  from  this,  the  Catholic  Doctrine  of  the  Holy- 
Eucharist  are  two  errors — both  of  which  overthrow  the 
very  nature  of  a  Sacrament,  viz.,  (a)  The  doctrine  of  the 
real  absence  of  the  Bread  and  Wine;  and  (b)  The  doctrine 
of  the  real  absence  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ — both 

19.  De  dudb.  Chriati  naturis.  The  passage  is  quoted  in  Sadler's  Ch.  Doct. 
and  Bib.  Truth  (p.  137),  a  book  which  every  intelligent  layman  ought  to  read 
and  study. 


AUTHORITY.  201 


of  which  are  equally  opposed  to  the  Church's  Scriptural 
and  Catholic  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence^  the  substantial 
reality,  of  both  parts  of  the  Sacrament. 

I.  The  first  of  these  errors  is  called  Ti-ansubstantiation 
It  denies  the  outward  visible  sign  by  declaring  that  aftei 
Consecration  there  is  no  bread  and  no  wine  at  all,  but  only 
the  actual  Body,  Blood,  Soul  and  Divinity  of  Christ.  And 
yet  that  Jesus  Christ,  Incarnate  God,  thus  present,  deludes 
His  worshippers  by  the  Protean  trick  of  resembling  a  piece 
of  bread  and  a  cup  of  wine— albeit  no  bread  and  wine  are 
there,  for  the  whole  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine  has 
ceased  to  be,  having  been  converted  into  the  substance  of 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  into  "  Christ  whole  and 
entire,"  ^  but  the  "  accidents  "  of  the  bread  and  wine,  hav- 
ing supplanted  the  proper  accidents  of  Christ's  human. 
Body  remain  to  mock  us. 

This  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  was  foreshadowed 
by  Paschasius  Radbertus,  in  831,  but  ably  opposed  by  Ra- 
banus  Maurus  and  Bertram  of  Corbie,  while  in  the  tenth 
century  the  "  Paschal  Homily  "  of  our  own  Aelfric,  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  shows  that  the  error  had  not  then  gained 
a  footing  in  the  Church  of  England.  Lanfranc,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  in  1070,  was  the  first  to  teach  Tran- 
substantiation in  our  Church ;  and  in  1215,  this  rational- 
istic hypothesis,  which  "  is  repugnant  to  the  plain  words 
of  the  Scripture,  overthroweth  the  nature  of  a  Sacrament, 


20.  See  Council  of  Trent,  Bess.  XIH.,  Oh.  4.  See  also  Catechism  of  Co.  of 
Trent,  Pt.  II.,  C.  IV.,  q.  XXXI.,  which  teaches  in  addition  that  in  this  Sacrament 
are  contained  "whatever  appertains  to  the  true  nature  of  a  hody,  such  as  bones 
and  nerves."  Canon  ni.  of  Sees.  XIII.,  also  teaches  that  "  the  whole  Christ  is 
contained  under  each  species."  From  this  premise  it  was  easy  to  deduce  the 
practical  heresy  of  Communion  under  one  species.  See  Sess.  XXI.,  Canons  I. 
and  II. 


202         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

and  hath  given  occasion  to  many  superstitions,"  was  de- 
clared an  article  of  the  Faith  (!)  by  the  Fourth  Lateran 
Council. 

It  must  of  course  be  acknowledged  that  Tran substanti- 
ation was  for  several  centuries  taught  by  the  clergy  of  our 
own  Church  in  England,  though  it  is  probable  that  all  the 
while  the  general  average  of  English  Churchmen,  guileless 
of  Aristotelian  metaphysics  and  scholastic  subtilties,  held 
substantially  the  same  view  of  the  nature  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  that  they  hold  to-day.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  one  important  part  of  the  English  Reformation  was 
the  restoring  of  the  primitive,  consistent,  scriptural  doc- 
trine of  the  two  parts  of  the  Sacrament,  and  the  Real  Pres- 
ence of  both. 

Out  of  the  theory  of  Trans  ubstantiation  there  gradually 
arose  in  western  Christendom  a  most  shocking  and  impi- 
ous abuse,  the  withholding  of  the  chalice  from  all  but  the 
Celebrant  himself.  This  half-Communion  or  Communion 
under  one  kind  is  nothing  less  than  the  robbing  of  Christ's 
people  of  the  Blood  of  Christ,  and  a  sacrilegious  mutila- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

Christ  had  said,  "  Except  ye  drink  the  Blood  of  the  Son 
of  Man  ye  have  no  life  in  you  ; "  and  when  He  gave  the 
consecrated  wine  (as  if  guarding  against  this  very  abuse) 
He  said:  "  Drink  all  ye  of  it."  The  teaching  of  St.  Paul 
is  equally  conclusive :  "  So  let  him  eat  of  that  bread,  and 
■drinh  of  that  cup.'^  The  Catholic  Church  throughout  the 
world  administered  under  both  kinds— the  Liturgies  and 
iill  the  Fathers  testify  to  this.  Bishops  of  Rome  (and  our 
Roman  Catholic  brethren  would  have  us  believe  them  all 
infallible  !),  notably  Leo  the  Great  and  Gelasius  I.,  declared 


AUTHORITY.  ^03 


this  half-Communion  a  heresy,  and  ordered  those  who 
refused  the  chahce  to  be  excommunicated.^^    As  late  as 
1095  the  Council  of  Clermont,  under  the  presidency  of 
Urban  II.,  Bishop  of  Rome,  decreed  that  "  no  one  shall 
communicate  at  the  altar,  without  receiving  the  Body  and 
the  Blood  separately  and  alike,  unless  by  urgent  necessity 
and   for  caution."  ^^    The  mutilation  of  the   Sacrament 
began  about  the  twelfth  century ,^3  though  in  the  thir- 
teenth, St.  Thomas  Aquinas  speaks  of  the  primitive  prac- 
tice (Communion  in  both  kinds)  as  lingering  in  some 
Churches.24    It  did  not  become  general  in  our  own  Church 
till  after  the  Council  of  Constance  (1415),  which  decreed  it ; 
it  was  never  wilhngly  acquiesced  in  by  our  laity,  and 
sometimes  the  clergy  used  to  administer  a  chalice  of  un- 
cmisecrated  wine  (!)  ^i"  the  sake  of  appearances  and  to 
pacify  the  people.    The  sacrilege  was  of  short  duration  in 
our  Church,  for  the  chahce  was  unanimously  restored  by 
Convocation,  December  2,  1547  ;  and  with  the  exception 
of  the  four  years  of  Romanist  reaction  under  Queen  Mary, 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar  has  ever  since  been  adminis- 
tered to  our  people  in  its  integrity,  as  Christ  appointed. 

II.    The  second  great  error  which  overthrows  the  nature 
of  a  Sacrament  is  commonly  called  Zwinglianism. 

It  is  the  doctrine  of  the  real  absence,  not  of  the  bread 


21.  See  Leo  Horn.  XLI.,  and  Oelaaius  ap  Oratiam  de  consecraU  quoted  in 
Littledale'8  Plain  Reasons,  xxxiii.,  p.  83.  Also  "England  versus  Rome,"  by  H. 
B.  Swete,  M.  A.,  p.l60. 

22.  See  Brown  on  the  Articles,  p.  733. 

23.  Cardinal  Botia  admits  this.    See  Bingham  II.,  808. 

24.  In  S.  Joann.,  VI.  and  VII.  The  Greek  Church,  of  course,  has  never 
lefused  to  the  laity  the  Sacrament  of  the  Blood  of  Christ. 


204  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

and  wine,  but  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  It  reads  a 
negative  into  God's  most  solemn  affirmation.  It  transub- 
stantiates our  Lord's  declaration,  "  This  IS  My  Body," 
into  This  is  NOT  My  Body.  As  Transubstantiation  ignores 
the  outward  visible  sign,  so  Zwinglianism  refuses  to  "  dis- 
cern "  the  inward  part  or  thing  signified,  which,  St.  Paul 
teaches  us,  is  the  essence  of  the  unworthy  reception  of  the 
Sacrament.  The  Catholic  doctrine  accepts  both.  Just  as 
touching  the  Incarnation,  Unitarians  deny  that  Christ  is 
God,  the  Docetae  deny  that  He  is  Man.  But  He  is  both, 
and  the  Catholic  Church  adores  Him,  God  and  Man,  the 
blessed  Theanthropos. 

According  to  Zwinglianism,  the  Holy  Communion  is  a 
bare,  empty  sign,  and  as  such  may  be  administered  with- 
out priest,  or  altar,  or  divine  Liturgy  ;  and  among  Ameri- 
can Dissenters  is  now,  with  fanatic  presumption,  usually 
administered  without  wine  ; — vapid,  outlandish,  unauthor- 
ized compounds  being  substituted. 

Zwinglianism  has,  of  course,  never  received  any  ecclesi- 
astical sanction  in  the  Anglo-Catholic  Church,  either  before 
or  since  the  sixteenth  century.  Our  doctrinal  and  liturgi- 
cal standards  are  as  careful,  on  the  one  hand,  to  guard 
against  it,  as,  on  the  other  hand,  to  guard  against  Transub- 
stantiation; allowing,  however,  between  these  two  extremes 
a  large  and  charitable  measure  of  Christian  liberty. 

Our  Church,  therefore,  continues  steadfastly  in  "The 
Breaking  of  the  Bread."  We  Catholics  prize  and  love  the 
outward  symbols  which  remind  our  dissenting  brother  of 
the  broken  Body  and  the  out-poured  Blood  ;  while,  with 
our  Roman  brother,  we  reverence  and  ''  discern  the  Lord's 
Body."  receiving  that  "spiritual  food  and  sustenance  to 


AUTHORITY.  205 

our  great  and  endless  comfort,"  holding  each  side  of  the 
truth  without  disparagement  of  the  other. 

"  Whene'er  I  seek  the  Holy  Altar's  rail, 
—-  And  kneel  to  take  the  grace  there  offered  me, 

It  is  no  time  to  task  my  reason  frail, 

To  try  Christ's  words,  and  search  how  they  may  be; 
Enough,  1  eat  His  Flesh  and  drink  His  Blood, 
More  is  not  told— to  ask  it  is  not  good. 

I  will  not  say,  with  these,  (25)  that  bread  and  wine 

Have  vanished  at  the  consecration  prayer ; 
Far  less,  with  those,  (26)  deny  that  aught  divine 

And  of  immortal  seed  is  hidden  there. 
Hence,  disputants  1    The  din,  which  ye  admire. 
Keeps  but  ill  measure  with  the  Church's  choir." 


25.  Romanists.    26.    Zwinglians. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

"the  prayers." 

"They  continued  steadfastly  in  the  prayers."  (A  mark  of  the  Early  Church.> 
—Acts,  ii.,  42. 

"  Take  with  you  words  and  turn  to  the  Lord."— Hosea,  xiv.,  8. 

"  If  all  the  liturgies  of  all  ancient  Churches  throughout  the  world  be  com- 
pared amongst  themselves,  it  may  be  easily  perceived  that  they  had  all  one 
original  mould."— The  Judicious  Hooker. 

TO  some  it  may  be  a  surprise  to  be  told  that  liturgical 
worship  is  a  mark  of  the  early  Church,  and  hence  a 
note  of  Catholicity,  but  it  is  assuredly  so.  I  would  not 
say  that  a  body  of  Christians  having  the  Faith,  the  Minis- 
try, and  the  Sacraments,  would  be  necessarily  un-Churched 
if  they  were  to  give  up  the  Liturgy  (as  for  a  time  the 
Catholic  Church  of  Scotland  did,  with  results  melancholy 
and  disastrous),  but  such  a  Church  would  be  incomplete^ 
not  fully  Catholic,  and  sure  to  deteriorate.  Indeed,  I  be- 
lieve a  purely  human  organization  with  a  Catholic  Liturgy 
(like  the  Irvingites)  is  more  likely  to  keep  the  Faith,  than 
a  Church  without  the  Liturgy  would  be.  It  behooves  us, 
therefore,  (a)  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  fact  that 
the  Early  Church  had  its  "  Divine  Liturgy,"  as  well  as  its 
Faith,  Ministry,  and  Sacraments ;  and  (6)  to  realize  that 
our  own  Church,  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  English 
speaking  race,  has  preserved,  in  its  essential  integrity, 


AUTHORITY.  20T 


Catholic  worship,  as  well  as  those  other  marks  of  the  prim- 
itive Church  in  which  we  have  already  seen  her  historic 
continuity. 

Of  all  the  kinds  of  authorized  public  worship,  among 
Jews  and  among  Christians,  no  such  thing  was  ever 
known,  until  recent  times,  as  a  non-liturgical  service. 
The  usual  custom  of  Anglo-American  Dissenters  in  dele- 
gating their  worship  to  the  extemporaneous  devotion  of  a 
single  leader,  would  have  appeared  as  absurd  to  a  Jew,  or 
to  an  ancient  Catholic  Churchman,  as  it  does  to-day  to 
those  of  us  who  have  learned  what  "  Common  Prayer  " 
really  is,  who  have  been  taught  "  not  to  bring  unbeaten 
oil  into  the  Sanctuary." 

The  Tabernacle  and  Temple  service,  which  was  ordained 
by  God,  was  absolutely  liturgical.  The  worship  of  the 
synagogue,  if  not  of  Divine  ordering  through  Ezra,  had,  at 
least.  Divine  sanction,  and  was  approved  and  devoutly 
participated  in  by  the  Son  of  God  during  His  earthly  life. 
It  also  was  absolutely  liturgical. 

Fragments  of  the  Mosaic  ritual  are  given  us  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  the  whole  in  the  writings  of  the  Rabbis. 
Thus  in  Numbers,  vi.,  24-26,  we  have  the  divinely  ordered 
form  of  priestly  Benediction  :  "  In  this  wise  ye  shall  bless 
the  children  of  Israel :  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep 
thee  ;  the  Lord  make  His  face  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  be 
gracious  unto  thee  ;  the  Lord  lift  up  His  countenance 
upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace.  "^  In  Deuteronomy  are 
given  the  liturgical  forms  to  be  used  by  the  people  in 
making  the  offering  of  first  fruits,-  and  of  the  tithes  of  the 

1.  Our  Church  retains  this  ancient  blessing  in  the  Visitation  Office 

2.  Deut.,  xxvi.,  5-11,  and  12-15. 


208         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

third  year,  and  the  form  used  by  the  elders  of  a  city  in 
which  murder  had  been  committed.^  The  Psalms  also 
were  nothing  less  than  a  divinely  inspired  book  of  devo- 
tions, and  were  regularly  chanted  or  intoned  by  the  vested 
priests  and  white-robed  choristers  in  the  temple.  When 
Hezekiah  remodeled  the  Jewish  worship,  we  read  that  he 
"  and  the  princes  commanded  the  Levites  to  sing  praises 
unto  the  Lord  with  the  words  of  David  and  of  Asaph  the 
seer  ;  and  they  sang  praises  with  gladness,  and  bowed 
their  heads  and  worshipped."^ 

We  learn  from  the  Talmud  the  whole  aiTangement  of 
the  services  in  connection  with  the  sacrifices,  the  sabbaths, 
and  the  holy  days.  Accurate  translations  may  be  found 
in  Lightfoot's  Temple  Service.  The  Jewish  ritual  also  fur- 
nished forms  for  all  special  occasions — circumcisions,  mar- 
riages, burials  and  the  like.  And  we  have  in  minute  de- 
tail the  forms  of  worship  used  at  the  Passover,  used  there- 
fore by  our  Lord  at  the  "  Last  Supper,"  and  constituting 
the  norra  of  the  Christian  Liturgy  or  Order  for  the  Admin- 
istration of  the  Holy  Communion. 

In  opposition  to  all  this,  Dissenters  often  reply  :  O, 
Christian  worship  is  not  based  on  the  Temple  Service  but 
on  that  of  the  synagogue  ! — which,  they  assume,  was  very 
much  of  the  nature  of  an  extemporaneous  "  prayer-meet- 
ing." Let  us  see.  One  has  but  to  enter  a  synagogue  to-day 
in  order  to  see  that  the  service  which  the  Jews  have  kejjt  up 
for  more  than  two  thousand  years  is  as  distinctively  litur- 
gical as  that  of  any  part  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Indeed 
a  stranger  happening  into  a  synagogue  might  almost  think 
that  the  service  of  Morning  or  Evening  Prayer  was  that  of 

3.  Id.,  xxi.,  7.    4.  II.  Chron.,  xxix.,  30. 


AUTHORITY.  209 


a  somewhat  ritualistic  congregation  of  Churchmen.  The 
reading  of  Scripture  lessons  according  to  The  Calendar,  the 
chanting  of  Psalms,  the  intoning  of  beautiful  prayers, 
especially  the  eighteen^  collects  which  Ezra  is  said  to  have 
composed  at  the  time  of  the  return  from  the  captivity,  and 
which  were  certainly  used  in  the  time  of  Christ,  bear  as 
little  resemblance  to  the  modern  "  prayer-meetings,"  "  ex- 
perience-meetings," "  gospel-temperance-meetings,"  et  id 
genus  omne,  as  does  the  high  Celebration  at  St.  Paul's  cathe- 
dral to  the  "  love-feast  "  of  a  "  camp-meeting."  A  graphic 
description  of  the  synagogue  services  is  accessible  to  all  in 
Geikie's  Life  of  Christ,  vol.  I.,  chap,  xiii.;  in  Prideaux' 
Connection,  part  I.,  book  vi.,  p.  375,  and  in  many  other 
works. 

Does  it  ever  occur  to  the  advocates  of  bald  extempora- 
neous services  how  unnatural  is  the  supposition  that  the 
Apostles,  trained  to  liturgical  worship  in  every  detail  of 
religious  service,  should  have  wrought  a  revolution  in  the 
very  idea  of  worship,  inconceivable  to  the  oriental  mind, 
and  which  would  have  appeared  as  irreverent  and  distaste- 
ful to  them,  as  would  the  total  abolition  of  the  Prayer  Book 
to  devout  Anglicans  to-day  ?  Our  Saviour  certainly  never 
uttered  one  word  against  the  established  forms  of  Jewish 
worship  in  which  He  Himself  regularly  and  devoutly  par- 
ticipated. St.  John  Baptist  taught  his  disciples  to  pray  ;  ^ 
and  Christ  gave  His  Apostles  the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  the 
Church  has  ever  since  universally  employed  in  public  and 
in  private  worship.     It  is  worthy  of  note  also  that  every 

5.  A  19tli  collect  was  added  early  in  the  Christian  era,  prayiiig  against 
Christians, 

6.  St.  Luke,  xi.,  1. 


210         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

petition  in  this  prayer  is  to  be  found  in  the  Jewish  ser- 
vices. '''  In  His  agony  in  the  garden,  our  Saviour  used  the 
same  words  in  prayer  three  times  ;  and  when  He,  the  Son 
of  God,  was  dying  upon  the  Cross,  in  His  closing  words  to 
His  Father  (as  one  has  said)  "  He  used  that  golden  form 
of  prayer  which  David  as  His  prototype,  composed,"  "  My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me?"  (Ps.  xxii.) 
and,  "Into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  (Ps.xxxi:  5). 

The  Church  under  the  guidance  of  the  Apostles  soon 
shaped  to  itself,  by  adaptation  and  by  composition,  a  litur- 
gical service.  In  Acts  iv.,  we  have  a  picture  of  the 
Christian  assembly  in  Jerusalem,  as  "  they  lifted  up  their 
voices  to  God  with  one  accord,"  in  a  beautiful  prayer 
which  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  early  Church,  a  sort  of 
Christian  psalm,  carefully  composed  according  to  the  rules 
of  Hebrew  Parallelism,  and  evidently  said  or  sung  in  con- 
cert. The  Colossians  were  bidden  to  teach  and  admonish 
one  another  "  in  psalms  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs  "  ® 
which  certainly  could  not  have  been  extempore.  The 
only  early  instance  of  unpremeditated  and  irregular  wor- 
ship (if  worship  it  may  be  called,)  is  the  abuse  which  ex- 
isted for  a  time  in  the  troublesome  and  self-willed  congre- 
gation of  Corinth,  and  to  the  rectification  of  which  St. 
Paul  so  strenuously  exerted  himself.^  His  closing  injunc- 
tion in  this  connection  may  well  be  the  Church's  motto  in 
all  ages  :    "  Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order." 

The  Liturgy,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  means  the 
service  used  in  celebrating  the  Holy  Eucharist.  It  admits 
of  no  doubt  that  our  Saviour,  at  the  Last  Supper,  followed 

7.  See  Lightfoot  on  St.  Matt.,  vi.,  &-13,  and  Home's  Incrod.  to  Scrip.,  V.  iii.» 
p.  896. 

8.  Col.,  iii.,  16.     9.  See  I.  Cor.,  xiv.,  especially  vs.  26 


AUTHORITY.  2]1 


the  usual  ritual  of  the  Passover,  inserting  at  the  most 
appropriate  places  the  Eucharistic  blessing  of  the  bread 
and  wine,  and  the  distribution  of  the  consecrated  Ele- 
ments. It  is,  moreover,  reasonable  to  suppose  that  He 
gave  the  Apostles  directions  as  to  the  way  in  which  they 
were  to  "  do  this."  Be  that  as  it  may,  they  certainly 
could  never  have  celebrated  that  Holy  Communion  with- 
out recalling  and  reproducing  the  outline  of  the  Paschal 
service  which  the  Master  had  used.  His  example  was 
command  enough,  even  if  He  did  not  explicitly  order 
them  to  follow  it ;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  did  follow 
it.  Wherever  they  went  they  carried  with  them  the  same 
outline  of  the  Liturgy,  and  that,  too,  based  on  the  Paschal 
Sacrifice.  Although  it  was  not  generally  (if  at  all)  commit- 
ted to  writing  till  in  the  second  century,  yet  it  retained  all 
its  parts,  and  had  only  verbal  differences  in  the  most 
widely  severed  portions  of  the  Church. 

In  the  great  centers  like  Jerusalem,  Ephesus,  Rome  and 
Alexandria,  the  Liturgies  used  bore  the  impress  of  Apos- 
tolic individuality,  while  still  keeping  to  the  general  form 
of  Catholic  unity.  Thus  arose  four  great  types  of  the 
primitive  Liturgy,  called,  respectively  :  (a)  The  Liturgy  of 
St.  James,  used  in  Jerusalem  (and,  in  a  slightly  modified 
form,  in  Antioch,  known  as  the  Antiochian,  Clementine  or 
Apostolic  Liturgy);  (6)  the  Liturgy  of  St.  John,  used  in 
Ephesus,  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain  ;  (c)  the  Liturgy  of  St. 
Peter,  used  at  Rome ;  and  (d)  the  Liturgy  of  St.  Mark, 
used  at  Alexandria.^*^ 

10.  These  four  Liturgies  are  the  basis  of  all  modern  Liturgies.  That  of  St. 
James  is  still  used  in  the  East,  and  is  the  basis  of  the  Graeco-Riissian  service; 
that  of  St.  John  is  the  basis  of  the  Anglican,  and  also  of  the  old  Gallican  and 
Mozarabic ;  that  of  St.  Peter,  of  the  modern  Roman  use ;  that  of  St.  Mark,  of  the 
Coptic  rite. 


212         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

These  all  have  twelve  parts  or  divisions  in  common. 
The  order  in  which  these  parts  occur  is  not  always  the 
same  ;  the  substance  of  each  is  the  same,  and  even  the 
verbal  expression,  though  not  identical,  is  so  similar  as  to 
demonstrate  a  common  origin.  They  differ  less  from 
each  other  than  the  four  great  races  of  men  whom  God 
"  hath  made  of  one  blood  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth,"  1^  and  who  may  all  justly  claim  a  common 
origin  from  Noah,  by  whose  sons  "  was  the  whole  earth 
overspread."  ^^  After  Scripture  lessons  and  a  sermon  with 
which  the  service  usually  began,  the  twelve  parts  common 
to  all  ancient  liturgies  are  as  follows  : 
I.  The  Kiss  of  Peace. 
II.     Lift  up  your  hearts. 

III.  The  Tersanctus. 

IV.  Commemoration  of  the  Institution. 
V.     The  Oblation. 

VI.     The  Invocation. 
(The  three  last  form  the  Prayer  of  Consecration,  or 
Canon  of  the  Mass.) 

VII.     Prayer  for  the  living. 
VIII.     Prayer  for  the  faithful  departed. 
IX.     The  Lord's  Prayer. 
X.    Union  of  the  consecrated  Elements, 
XI.     The  Communion. 
XII.     Thanksgiving. 

This  is  the  order  of  parts  according  to  the  Liturgy  of  St. 
James.  ^^ 

11.    Acts,  xvii.,  26.    12.  Gen.,  ix.,  19. 

13.  For  the  arrangement  of  the  other  Liturgies,  see  Blunt's  Annot.  P.  B.,  p. 
148;  Cult's  Turning  Points  in  Gen.  Ch.  Hist.,  p.  142,  and  Kip's  Double  Witness, 
p.  105.    See  also,  for  some  specimens,  Sadler's  Ch.  Doct.  and  Bible  Truth,  p.  204. 


AUTHORITY.  213 


The  four  varieties  of  the  early  Liturgy  are  at  least  as 
much  alike  as  the  four  Gospels,  which  have  so  much  in 
common  that  we  are  sure  they  are  each  based  on  the  one 
oral  Gospel  which  the  Apostles  taught  for  twenty  years 
before  they  wrote  down  the  first  word. 

The  Apostolic  Liturgy  is,  in  its  substance,  older  than 
the  written  Gospels  and  Epistles.  St.  Paul  himself  several 
times  quotes  from  liturgical  forms  used  in  the  Early 
Church.  This  fact  is  clearly  shown  in  Neale's  Essays  on 
Liturgiology  (pp.  411-474),  is  often  alluded  to  by  Cony- 
beare  and  Howson,  and  is  admirably  set  forth  by  a  lay- 
man of  our  own  Church  in  a  most  instructive  monograph 
on  the  Divine  Liturgy. ^^ 

The  worship  of  the  early  Church  was  liturgical,  musical, 
reverent,  symbolic,  and,  as  soon  as  circumstances  allowed, 
ornate.  When  the  younger  Pliny  was  Governor  of 
Bithynia,  a.  d.  112,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan,  in  which  he  gives  us  our  first  post-Apostolic 
glimpse  of  Christian  worship.  The  Christians,  says  he, 
"are  accustomed,  on  a  stated  day,  to  meet  before  daylight, 
and  to  say  antiphonally  a  hymn  to  Christ  Idicere  secum 
invicem  carmen  Christo]  as  to  God,  and  to  bind  themselves 
by  a  Sacrament  [or  oath,  Latin  Sacramentum]  not  to  com- 
mit any  wickedness." 

The  next  description  of  Christian  worship  is  given  by 
Justin  Martyr  before  a.  d.  140  : 

"Upon  the  day  called  Sunday  we  have  an  assembly  of 
all  who  live  in  the  towns  or  in  the  country,  who  meet  in 

14.  I  refer,  of  course,  to  "The  Divine  Liturgy  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,"  by  Geo.  W.  Hunter,  pub.  by  James  McCauley,  Philadelphia,  1881.  See 
p.  104;  also,  for  St.  Clement's  quotations,  p.  90. 


214  BEASONii  FOB  BEING  A  CHUBCHMAN. 

an  appointed  place;  and  the  records  of  the  Apostles,  or 
the  writings  of  the  Prophets  are  read,  according  as  time 
will  permit.  When  the  reader  has  ended,  then  the  Bishop 
[or  president]  admonishes  and  exhorts  us  in  a  discourse 
that  we  should  imitate  such  good  examples.  After  that  we 
all  stand  up  and  pray,  and  as  we  said  before,  when  that 
prayer  is  ended,  bread  is  offered  and  wine  and  water. 
Then  the  Bishop,  also,  according  to  the  authority  given 
him,  Bends  up  prayers  and  thanksgivings  ;  and  the  people 
end  the  prayer  with  him,  saying,  Amen.  After  which  dis- 
tribution is  made  of  the  consecrated  Elements,  which  are 
also  sent  by  the  hands  of  the  deacons  to  those  who  are  ab- 
sent." ^^  He  also  speaks  of  the  Christians  offering  up  "sol- 
emn rites  and  hymns."  ^® 

The  prayer  of  consecration  or  "  Canon  of  the  Mass,"  is 
of  course  the  vital  and  essential  part  of  the  Liturgy.  It 
is  impossible  here  to  reproduce  any  ancient  Liturgy  in  full; 
but  while  referring  the  reader  to  Neale's  translations,  to 
Hammond's  great  work,  and  the  little  book  of  Hunter 
mentioned  above,  I  will  give  a  brief  description  of  the  so- 
called  Clementine  Liturgy  which  agrees  with  that  of  St. 
James,  being  probably  that  form  of  it  which  was  used  in 
Antioch.^'^  It  is  undoubtedly  the  earliest  complete  Liturgy 
which  has  come  down  to  us,  for  it  is  contained  in  the 
eighth  book  of  the  Apostolic  Constitutions,  which  though 
probably  not  compiled  until  the  third  or  fourth  century, 
is  made  up  of  material  of  much  earlier  date.  The  four 
great  Liturgies  may  be  traced  back  in  substantial  integrity 

15.    For  the  whole  passage  see  Jastin's  Apol.  I.,  Oh.  65-6-7. 

IG.    Apol.  I.,  13. 

17.    See  Probst,  p.  231,  quoted  by  Hunter. 


AUTHORITY.  215 


to  the  fifth  century,  St.  James'  Liturgy  to  the  fourth,  and 
this  form  which  I  am  about  to  quote,  certainly  to  the 
third  or  earHer.i^  xhey  can  also  be  traced  by  fragments 
and  actual  quotations  so  far  back  that  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  they  were  used  substantially  as  we  have  them  in  the 
age  next  succeeding  that  of  the  Apostles,  and  were  based 
on  the  oral  Liturgy  which  the  blessed  Apostles  used  with 
the  memory  of  the  Last  Supper  fresh  in  their  minds,  and 
which  Proclus  (Patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  the  fifth 
century)  asserts  they  agreed  upon  before  they  parted  for 
their  several  fields  of  work. 

The  first  part  of  the  Clementine  Liturgy— the  part  which 
we  call  the  Ante-Communion  or  Proanaphora— begins  with 
readings  from  Holy  Scripture  (which  at  an  early  date, 
probably  by  St.  Jerome  in  the  fourth  century,  were  ar- 
ranged into  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  for  the  day.^^)  Then 
the  Bishop  says  the  lesser  Benediction  (which  St.  Paul 
quotes  in  11.  Cor.,  xiii.,  14),  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Love  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  fellowship  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  be  with  you  all." 

\_And  let  all  answer]  "And  with  thy  Spirit." 
Then  follows  the  sermon ;  and  after  that  a  deacon  dis- 
misses the  catechumens,  and  utters  a  bidding  prayer, 
which  bears  a  most   striking   resemblance  to  the  corres- 
ponding part  of  the  Jewish  Paschal  Office  immediately 

18.  Hunter  says  of  it:  "We  have  here  sacred  words  used  by  apostles  and 
martyrs  day  after  day  and  week  after  week,  older,  possibly,  than  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Matthew;  older,  probably,  than  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul;  older,  most  of  them, 
certainly  than  the  loveliest  and  dearest  of  all  writings,  the  Gospel  of  St.  John." 

P.  20. 

19.  The  altar  readings  both  of  the  ancient  and  modern  Anglo-Catholic 
Church  often  differ  from  the  modern  Roman  arrangement,  in  which  case  we 
generally  follow  the  old  order  of  St.  Jerome,  from  which  Rome  has  often  departed. 
See  Blunt,  Annot,  P.  B.,  p.  70. 


216  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

after  the  discourse,  bidding  the  people  pray  for  the  Church 
and  the  world,  for  bishops,  priests,  deacons,  etc.,  for  "the 
babes  of  the  Church  "  (an  incidental  proof,  b}'^  the  way, 
of  infant  baptism).  The  bishop,^*^  who  is  here  called  the 
High  Priest,  says  the  prayer  corresponding  to  our  prayer 
for  the  Church  Militant.  Then  comes  the  Offertory,  when 
"  the  deacons  bring  the  gifts  to  the  bishop  at  the  altar," 
and  the  wine  is  poured  out.  Just  here  occurs  an  im- 
portant rubric  : 

"  When  the  High  Priest  has  prayed  by  himself  with  the 
priests,  and  has  put  on  his  shining  garment,*^^  standing  by 
the  altar,  and  having  made  with  his  hand  the  sign  of  the 
Cross  upon  his  forehead,  let  him  say: 

"  The  grace  of  the  Almighty  God,  etc.,  be  with  you  all." 

lAnd  let  all  with  one  voice  say :']     "And  with  thy  Spirit." 

\_The  High  Priest]     "  Lift  up  your  mind." 

lAll.Ji     "  We  have  unto  the  Lord." 

IThe  High  Priest.']    "  Let  us  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord." 

IAII.2     "  It  is  meet  and  right." 

[^And  let  the  High  Priest  say ;] 

[The  Preface.]  "It  is  verily  meet  and  right,  before 
all  things,  to  hymn  to  Thee,  the  only  true  God,"  etc. 
Here  follows  a  very  long  ascription  of  praise  (which  we 
have  cut  down  to  the  Short  Preface  and  proper  Prefaces 
of  our  Communion  Office)  obviously  based  on  the  "  Hallel " 
of  the   Passover  ritual.      It  closes,  of  course,  with   the 

20.  In  this  copy  of  Liturgy  the  Celebrant  is  supposed  to  be  a  Bishop :  It  is 
directed  to  be  used  by  a  Bishop  at  his  first  Eucharist  after  his  Consecration. 

21.  The  clergy  of  the  early  Church,  like  the  Jewish  ministry,  wore  proper 
vestments  as  soon  as  it  was  practicable  to  do  so. 


AUTHORITY.  217 


Ceraphic  Hymn,  though  in  a  somewhat  fuller  form  than 
our  own,  "Therefore  with  angels  and  archangels,"  etc., 
the  whole  congregation  uniting  in  the  "Holy, Holy,  Holy, 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,"  etc.  The  bishop  then  says  a  prayer 
which  embodies  a  pharaphrase  of  the  Creed,  and  also  cor- 
responds slightly  to  our  "  Prayer  of  Humble  Access," 
followed  by  the  solemn  Canon  of  the  Mass,  which  I  give 
in  full  that  all  may  see  how  remarkably  our  Prayer  of 
Consecration  agrees  with  it : 

"  Remembering,  therefore,  what  things  He  endured  for 
us,  we  give  Thee  thanks,  0,  God  Almighty,  not  as  we  ought, 
but  as  we  are  able,  and  fulfill  His  command. 

[The  Institution.]  For  in  the  night  in  which  He  was 
beti'ayed  He  took  bread  in  His  holy  and  spotless  hands, 
and  when  He  had  looked  up  to  Thee  His  God  and  Father, 
He  brake,  and  gave  to  His  disciples,  saying.  This  is  the 
mystery  of  the  New  Covenant,  take  of  it,  eat.  This  is  My 
body,  which  is  broken  for  many,  for  the  forgiveness  of 
sins.  Likewise,  when  He  had  mingled  the  cup  with  wine 
and  water,  and  hallowed  it.  He  gave  it  to  them,  saying  : 
Drink  ye  all  of  this,  for  this  is  My  blood,  which  is  shed 
for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  Me.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and 
drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  forth  My  death  till  I  come. 

[The  Oblation.]  Remembering,  therefore.  His  passion 
and  death,  and  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  return 
into  the  heavens,  and  His  future  second  appearing,  in 
which  He  shall  come  with  glory  and  power  to  judge  the 
quick  and  the  dead,  and  to  give  to  each  one  according  to 
his  deeds,  we  offer  to  Thee,  King  and  God,  according  to 


218         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

His  command,  this  bread  and  this  cup,  giving  thanks  to 
Thee  through  Him,  in  that  Thou  hast  thought  us  fit  to 
stand  before  Thee,  and  to  sacrifice  to  Thee. 

[The  Invocation.]  And  we  beseech  Thee  that  Thou 
wilt  favorably  look  upon  these  gifts  which  now  lie  before 
Thee,  O  Thou  God,  who  need  est  naught,  and  be  well 
pleased  with  them  in  honor  of  Thy  Christ,  and  send  down 
upon  this  Sacrifice  Thy  Holy  Ghost,  the  Witness  of  the 
sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  He  may  make  this 
bread  the  Body  of  Thy  Christ,  and  this  cup  the  Blood  of 
Thy  Christ,  that  they  who  partake  thereof  m?y  be 
strengthened  in  piety,  may  obtain  remission  of  sins,  may 
be  delivered  from  the  devil  and  his  deceit,  may  be  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  may  be  made  worthy  of  Thy  Christ, 
may  obtain  eternal  life,  since  Thou  art  reconciled  to  them, 
O  Lord  Almighty." 

I  give  here  the  corresponding  prayer  in  our  Prayer 
Book  to  show  how  primitive  our  Liturgy  is  : 

The  Institution.  "All  glory  be  to  Thee,  Almighty 
God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  for  that  Thou,  of  Thy  tender 
mercy,  didst  give  Thine  only  Son  Jesus  Christ  to  suffer 
death  upon  the  cross  for  our  redemption  ;  Who  made 
there  (by  His  one  oblation  of  Himself  once  offered)  a  full, 
perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  satisfaction 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  ;  and  did  institute,  and  in 
His  holy  Gospel  command  us  to  continue  a  perpetual 
memory  of  that  His  precious  death  and  sacrifice,  until 
His  coming  again  :  For  in  the  night  in  which  He  was 
betrayed,  He  took  bread  ;  and  when  He  had  given  thanks, 
He  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  His  disciples,  saying  :   Take, 


AUTHORITY.  219 


€at,  this  is  My  Body,  which  is  given  for  you  ;  do  this  in 
remembrance  of  Me.  Likewise,  after  supper,  He  took  the 
cup  ;  and  when  He  had  given  thanks,  He  gave  it  to  them, 
saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  this  ;  for  this  is  My  Blood  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you,  and  for  many,  for 
the  remission  of  sins  ;  do  this,  as  oft  as  ye  shall  drink  it 
in  remembrance  of  Me. 

The  Oblation.  Wherefore,  O  Lord  and~  heavenly 
Father,  according  to  the  institution  of  Thy  dearly  be- 
loved Son  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  we,  Thy  humble  ser- 
vants, do  celebrate  and  make  here  before  Thy  divine 
Majesty,  with  these  Thy  holy  gifts,  which  we  now  offer 
unto  Thee,  the  Memorial  Thy  Son  hath  commanded  us  to 
make;  having  in  remembrance  His  blessed  passion  and 
precious  death,  His  mighty  resurrection  and  glorious  as- 
cension; rendering  unto  Thee  most  hearty  thanks  for  the 
innumerable  benefits  procured  unto  us  by  the  same. 

The  Invocation.  And  we  most  humbly  beseech  Thee, 
O  most  merciful  Father,  to  hear  us;  and,  of  Thy  Almighty 
goodness,  vouchsafe  to  bless  and  sanctify,  with  Thy  Word 
and  Holy  Spirit  these  Thy  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread  and 
wine  ;  that  we,  receiving  them  according  to  Thy  Son  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ's  holy  institution,  in  remembrance 
of  his  death  and  passion,  may  be  partakers  of  His  most 
blessed  Body  and  Blood.  "    *     *    * 

After  the  prayer  of  consecration  follow  some  special  in- 
tercessions for  the  living  and  for  the  faithful  departed, 
which  we  have  in  the  concluding  part  of  the  Canon  and 
also  in  the  prayer  for  the  Church  Militant.  Next  comes 
the  Gloria  in  Excelsis,  though  in  a  shorter  and  more  ancient 


220         REASONS  FOR  BEING' A  CHURCHMAN 

form  than  that  of  other  Liturgies,  including  our  own.  The 
Communion  follows,  the  bishop,  priests  and  deacons  first 
receiving,  and  then  the  people  in  order,  "■  with  reverence 
and  godly  fear." 

"  [And  let  the  bishop  give  the  offering,  saying ;]  The  Body  of 
Christ.     [^And  let  him  that  receiveth,  say ;]     Amen. 

[And  let  the  deacon  take  the  cup,  and  giving  it,  say  /]  The 
Blood  of  Christ,  the  Cup  of  Life,  [And  let  him  that  drink- 
eth,  say ;]     Amen. 

The  34th  Psalm  follows,  corresponding  to  our  Commun- 
ion Hymn.  And  the  concluding  prayers  correspond  with, 
our  post-Communion  prayer. 

This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  early  Liturgy,  tne  chief 
and  central  service  of  the  primitive  Catholic  Church. 
And  as  we  compare  our  own  with  it,  we  may  well  thank 
God  that  our  Church  has  "  continued  steadfastly  in  the 
prayers." 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE  ANGLICAN  CHURCH  AND  "  THE  PRAYERS." 

"  In  beauty  built  and  might 
For  Apostolic  service 
And  high  liturgic  rite." 

—Bishop  Coxe,  Christian  Ballads. 

"Here  rises  with  the  rising  morn 

Their  incense  unto  Thee, 

Their  bold  confession  Catholic 

And  high  Doxology. 
Soul-melting  Litany  is  here. 
And  here,  each  holy  feast, 
Up  to  the  Altar  duly  spread 
Ascends  the  stoled  Priest." 

—Same. 

THE  striking  resemblances  which  we  have  noted  be- 
tween the  Liturgy  of  our  Prayer  Book  and  the  Litur- 
gies used  in  the  Early  Church  are  not  the  result  of  chance 
nor  of  imitation,  but  of  hereditary  possession  and  un- 
broken usage.  Our  Church  inherited  Catholic  worship 
just  as  she  inherited  Catholic  Faith,  Order  and  Sacra- 
ments. 

The  "  Liturgy  of  St.  John,"  ^  used  in  Ephesus,  until  the 
fourth  century,  was  very  early  carried  to  Gaul,  Spain  and 
Britain,  receiving,  of  course,  certain  modifications  as  the 


1.  The  Liturgy  of  Ephesue,  though  commonly  called  the  "Liturgy  of  St. 
John,"  is  thought  by  many  to  be  more  properly  the  Liturgy  of  St.  Paul,  as  it  was 
really  he  who  organized  the  Church  in  Ephesus,  and  ordained  Timothy  as  the 
first  bishop  of  that  city. 


222         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

needs  of  the  Church  required.  It  was  used  in  Gaul  until 
the  time  of  Charlemagne,  who  introduced  the  Roman  Use^ 
about  A.  D.  800  ;  and  in  Spain  until  the  eleventh  century, 
when  there  also  it  was  superseded  by  the  Roman  — 
although  since  the  sixteenth  century  it  has  been,  and  is 
still,  used  in  Toledo,  in  a  college  and  chapel  endowed  for 
that  purpose  by  Cardinal  Ximenes. 

The  British  Church  was  no  more  indebted  to  Rome  for 
her  Liturgy  than  for  her  other  marks  of  Catholicity.  She 
used  a  form  of  the  Liturgy  of  St.  John,  substantially  iden- 
tical with  that  used  in  Gaul.  When  Augustine  found  that 
the  British  Christians  used  a  somewhat  different  form  of 
worship  from  that  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed  in 
Rome,  he  was  very  much  perplexed,  and  wrote  to  Greg- 
ory, the  Roman  bishop,  to  know  what  to  do.  Gregory's 
answer  was  most  wise  and  charitable ;  and  to  it  we  are 
indebted  for  the  preservation  of  our  own  beautiful  and 
independent  Liturgy,  which,  based  on  that  of  St.  John,  is 
still  our  glory  and  the  precious  vehicle  of  our  devotions. 
Instead  of  forcing  the  Roman  form  on  the  Anglo-British 
Church,  Gregory  wrote  to  Augustine  : 

"  You,  my  brother,  are  acquainted  with  the  customs  of 
the  Roman  Church  in  which  you  have  been  brought  up. 
But,  it  is  my  pleasure,  that,  if  you  have  found  anything 
either  in  the  Roman  or  the  Galilean  or  any  other  Church, 
which  may  be  more  acceptable  to  Almighty  God,  you  care- 
fully make  choice  of  the  same  ;  and  sedulously  teach  the 
Church  of  the  English,  which  is  at  present  new  in  the 
Faith,  whatsoever  you  can  gather  from  the  several 
Churches.  *  *  *  Select,  therefore,  from  each  Church 
those  things  which  are  pious,  religious  and  correct ;  and 


AUTHORITY.  223 


when  you  have  made  these  up  into  one  body,  instil  this 
into  the  minds  of  the  Enghsh  for  their  use."^ 

Augustine,  of  course,  made  not  a  few  modifications  in 
the  direction  of  the  Roman  Use,  which  was,  perhaps,  at 
that  time  the  more  elaborate  and  complete  service.  But  as 
a  great  majority  of  the  Saxons  were  converted  by  the  mis- 
sions of  the  old  Celtic  Church,  the  English  race  clung 
tenaciously  to  its  independent  ritual.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  Roman  Missal  and  Breviary  were  never  used  in  Eng- 
land's Church,  except  in  some  of  the  monasteries.  At- 
tempts to  enforce  the  Roman  Use  (as  at  Cloveshoo,  a.  d. 
747),  encountered  a  stern  resistance,  a  resistance  in  some 
respects  more  successful  than  certain  other  Italian  en- 
croachments met  with.  In  1085,  St.  Osmund,  Bishop  of 
Salisbury,  revised  the  offices  of  the  Church,  and  his  re- 
vision (known  as  the  Sarum  Use)  became  quite  general 
throughout  our  Church.  Certain  dioceses,  however  (as 
York,  Bangor,  Hereford,  and  London  till  1414),  retained  to 
some  extent  local  Uses,  all  of  which,  however,  were  clearly 
independent  of  the  Roman  Use. 

Very  extensively  during  the  Saxon  period,  and  almost, 
wholly  after  the  Norman  Conquest,  the  offices  of  our 
Church  were  said  in  Latin  for  obvious  reasons.^  Moreover, 
many  corrupt  additions  had  crept  into  our  formularies  of 
worship,  such  as  prayers,  hymns  and  litanies  which  paid 

2.  Greg,  opera,  II.,  1151,  Ben.  Ed.  and  Bede's  Eccl.  Hist.,  I.,  2.  7. 

3.  Latin  was  a  sort  of  nniversal  language  in  the  West,  for  devotional  pur- 
poses far  superior  to  the  vernacular  which  was  undergoing  constant  change,  es- 
pecially after  the  Conquest.  Our  Church  has  no  objection  to  the  use  of  Latin 
where  it  is  understood  by  the  congregation ;  accordingly  an  authorized  Latin  ver- 
sion of  the  P.  B.  was  put  forth  for  use  in  the  universities  and  classical  schools 
in  England,  and  the  opening  service  and  sermon  at  convocation  and  at  some  of 
the  diocesan  synods  in  England,  are  still  in  Latin.    Even  in  the  parish  churches. 


224         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

to  saints  and  angels  and  especially  to  the  Mother  of  our 
Blessed  Lord,  an  almost  idolatrous  veneration,  clearly  for- 
bidden in  Holy  Scripture  and  unheard  of  in  the  primitive 
Church.  Then,  too,  the  calender  was  so  cumbered  up  with 
superfluous  Saint's  Days,  and  the  services  were  so  com- 
plicated, and  the  daily  ofl&ces  in  the  monasteries  left  so 
little  time  or  inclination  for  daily  prayers  in  the  parish 
churches  that  a  reform  in  our  devotional  system  was  as 
clearly  called  for  as  the  other  reforms,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  of  which  we  have  already  treated.  And  in  the 
Providence  of  God  this,  like  the  others,  was  effected  grad- 
ually and  without  any  break  of  continuity. 

The  invention  of  printing  now  enabled  the  Church  to 
put  Prayer  Books  as  well  as  Bibles  in  the  hands  of  the 
people,  and  became  a  powerful  instrument  for  reform. 
Something  in  the  way  of  devotional  reform  was  accom- 
plished in  1516,  probably  through  the  influence  of  Cardi- 
nal Wolsey,  and  more  in  1531.  The  "  Prymers  "  and  '*  The 
Mirroure  of  our  Ladye  "  followed,  giving  in  English,  the 
Epistles,  Gospels,  Litany,  and  other  parts  of  the  services, 
with  explanations.  In  1541  the  Lessons  were  ordered  to 
be  read  in  English.  Three  years  later  the  Litany  was  ad- 
mirably revised  and  authorized  to  be  sung  in  English.  In 
1547  Convocation  adopted  an  "  Order  of  the  Communion  " 
in  English  to  be  appended  to  the  usual  Latin  Liturgy,  and 
providing  for  the  restoration  of  the  chalice  to  the  laity. 

■where  the  English  clergy  are  obliged  to  say  Matins  and  Evensong  every  day,  if 
no  congregation  be  present,  the  service  may  be  said  in  Latin.  Had  the  govern- 
ment allowed  the  Irish  Church  to  retain  Latin  after  the  Reformation,  instead  of 
forcing  English  upon  it,  the  probability  is  that  a  large  majority  of  the  native 
Irish  would  have  remained  in  the  Old  Church,  instead  of  being  driven  into  the 
Roman  schism.    The  Irish  were  used  to  Latin,  but  hated  English. 


AUTHORITY.  225 


And  finally  on  Whitsun  Day,  1549,  the  whole  service  of 
the  Church— viz. :  "  Matins  "  and  "  Evensong,"  "  The  Holy 
Communion  commonly  called  the  Mass,"  and  many  special 
offices — was  universally  adopted  in  superb  idiomatic  Eng- 
lish, by  authority  of  Convocation  and  Parliament.  This 
great  work,  commonly  called  the  *'  First  Prayer  Book  of 
Edward  VI.,"  is,  in  the  judgment  of  competent  liturgiolo- 
gists,  the  most  perfect  form  of  Catholic  worship  ever  used 
in  the  Church  of  God."* 

Although  this  Prayer  Book  was  in  some  respects  new  — 
the  old  services  being  purified  and  simplified  as  well  as 
translated,  and  the  "  Seven  Hours  "  being  condensed  into 
the  two  offices  of  Matins  and  Evensong — yet  it  was  essen- 
tially identical  with  the  old,  and  Archbishop  Cranmer 
ofiered  to  prove  that  "  the  order  of  the  Church  of  England, 
set  out  by  authority  of  Edward  VI.,  was  the  same  that  had 
been  used  in  the  Church  for  fifteen  hundred  years."  ^ 

There  have  been  several  subsequent  revisions  of  the 
Prayer  Book,  but  the  English,  Scottish,  Irish,  and  Ameri- 
can Books,  to-day,  differ  but  little  from  the  Prayer  Book 
of  1549,  the  Scottish  being  the  most  perfect  of  the  four, 
and  the  American  next.  Still  the  differences  are  so  slight 
that  the  difierent  members  of  the  Anglo-Catholic  family 
are  hardly  aware  of  any  diversity  in  their  grand,  pure,  an- 
cestral system  of  divine  worship — which,  as  a  service  of 
Common  Prayer  is  far  superior  to  the  Roman  system  in 
which  participation  in  the  worship  is  almost  exclusively 
limited  to  the  clergy  and  the  choir,  besides  being  far  less 

4.  A  capital  reprint  of  this  book,  with  a  preface  by  Dr.  Dix,  may  be  had  of 
the  "Ch.  Kalender  PreriS,"  New  York. 

5.  Bp.  Jeremy  Taylor's  Works,  vii.,  292. 


226  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

primitive  and  pure,  and  "in  a  tongue  not  understanded  of 
the  people."  As  to  all  kinds  of  non-liturgical  worship,  no 
comparison  is  possible  ;  they  are  not  to  be  mentioned  in 
the  same  breath. 

As  one  looks  at  the  whole  question  of  public  worsnip, 
and  remembers  how  precious  the  Prayer  Book  is  to  many 
a  Christian  heart  outside  the  Anglican  Church,^  it  be- 
comes a  matter  of  wonderment  that  any  body  of  English 
speaking  Christians,  even  after  they  had  cast  off  their 
allegiance  to  the  Historic  Church,  should  ever  have  given 
up  the  liturgical  worship  of  the  sanctuary.  Luther  and 
Calvin,  and  Knox  and  Wesley,'^  and  almost  every  leader 
of  secessions  from  the  Church  believed  in  the  liturgical 
system,  and  put  forth  elaborate  forms  of  public  prayer, 
which  are  still  largely  retained  by  continental  Protestants. 
But  for  more  than  two  centuries  almost  all  English  and 
American  Dissenters  have  had  the  strange  notion  (not 
taught  by  their  founders  nor  dreamed  of  before  in  all 
Jewry  and  Christendom)  that  liturgical  worship  was  un- 
scriptural,  insincere,  unedifying  ! — a  sentiment  character- 
istically expressed  by  "  Sam  Lawson,"  when  he  said  : 
"  Now  readin'  prayers  out  of  a  book,  that  ere'  don'  strike 
me  as  just  the  right  kind  o'  thing.     For  my  part  I  like 

6.  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  a  distinguished  Methodist,  said:  "The  liturgy  ia 
almost  universally  esteemed  by  the  devout  and  pious  of  every  denomination, 
and,  next  to  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  English  language,  is  the 
greatest  effort  of  the  Reformation.  As  a  form  of  devotion  it  has  no  equal  in  any 
part  of  the  Universal  Church  of  God.  Next  to  the  Bible,  it  is  the  Book  of  my 
understanding  and  my  heart."  Similar  testimony,  especially  in  this  country 
during  the  last  twenty  years,  might  be  multiplied  to  any  extent. 

7.  In  classing  Wesley  among  the  leaders  of  secession,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  he  was  such  only  indirectly  and  unintentionally.  He  lived  and  died  a 
loyal  Catholic  priest,  and  his  dying  injunctions  to  his  followers  were  never  to 
leave  the  Church  of  England. 


AUTHORITY.  227 


prayers  that  come  right  out  of  the  heart." ^  As  though, 
forsooth,  a  prayer  born  in  the  intellectual  throes  of  extem- 
poraneous utterance  on  the  part  of  the  leader,  and  followed 
by  the  audience  on  the  qui  vive  of  uncertain  expectancy 
and  mental  adoption,  could  somehow  be  more  devotional, 
more  directly  from  the  heart,  than  the  chaste,  hallowed,  fa- 
miliar devotions  of  the  Prayer  Book,  when,  the  mental  eflfort 'i 
of  recollection  and  invention — the  cerebral  struggle  with  '. 
syntax  and  vocabulary — being  in  abeyance,  the  whole  en- 
ergy of  the  soul  is  centered  in  the  heart,  and  the  heart  itself 
lifted  to  God  in  the  ecstacy  of  pure  and  ennobling  worship. 
This  truth,  with  others,  is  strongly,  but  with  no  real 
lack  of  charity,  expressed  by  a  leading  Presbyterian  min- 
ister on  the  eve  of  his  return  to  the  Historic  Church  :       "^ 

"  To  be  losing  my  time  and  patience,  and  to  be  injuring 
my  devotional  taste  and  temper  with  the  '  gifts '  of  the 
brethren  in  a  stupid  prayer-meeting,  when  I  might  be  wafted 
toward  heaven  in  the  sublime  strains  of  a  holy  liturgy  ; 
to  be  frequenting  a  more  public  service,  where  prayer  was 
curtailed,  and  Holy  Scripture  almost  excluded,  and  a  few 
short  verses  of  rhyme  sung  only  as  an  interlude  or  rest, 
and  all  this,  done  systematically,  to  make  room  for  a 
labored  sermon,"  etc.,  etc.,  "  when  by  a  single  step  I  might 
enter  the  larger  libei'ty  of  a  Church  which  breathes,  and 
believes,  and  prays,  and  praises  as  she  did  when  Irenaeus, 
Ignatius  and  Polycarp  beheld  her  glory,  and  the  noble 
army  of  martyrs  died  for  her  as  the  pure  spouse  of  Christ 
— all  this  had  now  become  a  burden  too  great  for  me  to 
bear."  9 

8.  Mrs.  H.  B,  Stowe's  "  Oldtown  Folks,"  p.  326. 

9.  Mines'  Pres.  Clerg.,  p.  140. 


228         REASOJVS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

How  did  such  a  system  of  public  service  ever  arise  and 
gain  adherents,  not  to  say  devotees,  among  Christian  men  ? 
It  will  be  a  surprise  to  many  to  be  told  that  it  was  largely 
the  work  of  Jesuits  in  England,^"  who,  in  the  disguise  of 
zealous  Protestants,  made  some  weaker  members  of  the 
Church  and  the  larger  portion  of  Nonconformists  ill'' 
affected  toward  the  Church's  worship,  in  order  to  create 
divisions,  anarchy,  and  confusion,  that  on  the  ruins  of 
England's  Faith,  they  might  erect,  as  on  heathen  soil,  a 
foreign  and  corrupt  Church.  They  were  successful  in 
ruining  the  public  worship  of  Dissent,  but  the  Church  of 
England,  "the  Bulwark  of  the  Reformation,"  kept  the 
Catholic  worship,  which,  in  turn,  has  kept  her  from  man- 
ifold ill.  And  we  may  now  thank  God  that  English- 
speaking  Christians  of  every  name  are  more  and  more 
coming  back  to  the  principles  of  Prayer  Book  Worship. 
The  remarkable  Presbyterian  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
compiled  by  the  devout  and  scholarly  Dr.  Shields,  of 
Princeton,  the  earnest  efforts  of  Drs.  Hopkins  and  Hitch- 
cock, also  among  the  Presbyterians,  and  of  other  like- 
minded  men  in  different  denominationSj  and  the  superb 
liturgy  compiled  by  the  little  sect  of  Irvingites,  are  a  few 
among  many  indications  that  the  prejudice  against  litur- 
gical worship  is  being  done  away.  There  has  been,  too,  a 
sudden  waking  up  to  the  fact  that  hymns,  which  are  for 

10.  "They  (i.  e.,  extemporaneouB  services)  were  contrived  by  popish  emis- 
saries disguised  in  the  garb  of  Protestantism,  and  pretending  the  utmost  abhor- 
rence of  what  they  stigmatized  as  the  corruptions  of  popery  still  existing  in  the 
English  Church.  The  object  was  to  produce  division  and  dissension,  as  the 
surest  mode  of  bringing  the  reformed  religion  into  disrepute,  and  regaining  the 
ascendency  once  enjoyed  by  the  Roman  pontiff.  For  this  purpose,  among  other 
things,  they  were  loud  in  their  invectives  against  the  liturgy,"  etc.— Sermons  on 
the  Church,  by  the  Rev.  Q.  T.  Chapman,  D.  D.,  p.  188. 


AUTHORITY.  229 


the  most  part  nothing  but  rhythmical  prayers,  are  as  dis-  / 
tinctly  liturgical  as  the  Litany  or  the  Psalter  ;  and  if  it  is  j 
right  to  sing  liturgical  prayers  in  verse,  it  can  hardly  be  ) 
wrong  to  say  or  to  sing  them  in  prose. 

It  cannot  be  claimed  that  our  Prayer  Book  is  absolutely 
perfect,  but  it  is  at  least  marvelously  good.^^  Cast  in  the 
words  of  Holy  Scripture  (for  more  than  nine-tenths  of  it 
is  taken  directly  from  the  Bible),  framed  on  the  general 
plan  of  primitive  Apostolic  worship,  of  which  it  is  the 
lineal  descendant,  cleansed  from  all  mediaeval  corruptions, 
expressed  in  the  purest  style  of  the  best  of  modern  lan- 
guages, consecrated  by  the  devout  use  of  generations  of 
saints  who  now  rest  in  Paradise,  and  withal  adapted  to  the 
devotional  needs  of  the  rich  and  of  the  poor,  of  the  high 
and  of  the  lowly,  in  this  and  every  age,  we  may  well  thank 
God  for  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  rejoicing  that  our 
beloved  Church  has  "  continued  steadfastly  in  the  Pray- 
ers." 


11.  See  a  notable  article  by  Dr.  Shields  in  the  Century  (Nov.,  1885).  Speak- 
ing of  the  liturgical  movements  among  the  sects,  the  learned  Presbyterian 
declares:  "It  must  have  its  logical  conclusion  in  the  English  Prayer  Book  as 
the  only  CJirMian  Liturgy  worthy  the  name.  *  *  *  The  English  Liturgy, 
next  to  the  English  Bible,  is  the  most  wonderful  product  of  the  Reformation." 
He  adds,  that  if  the  reunion  of  American  Christianity  ever  comes,  "it  must 
come  through  the  spirit  of  Protestant  Catholicism,  of  which  the  English  Liturgy, 
properly  amended  and  enriched,  would  be  the  best  conceivable  embodiment." 
—p.  84. 


\ 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  ARGUMENT  FOR  THE   CHURCH's   AUTHOR- 
ITY  BASED   ON   HISTORIC  CONTINUITY. 

"One  only  Way  to  Life; 
One  Faith,  delivered  once  for  all; 
One  holy  Band,  endowed  with  Heaven's  high  call; 

One  earnest,  endless  strife ;  — 
This  is  the  Church  the  Eternal  framed  of  old. 

"Smooth,  open  ways,  good  store; 
A  Creed  for  every  clime  and  age. 
By  Mammon's  touch  new  moulded  o'er  and  o'er; 

No  cross,  no  war  to  wage ;  — 
This  is  the  Church  our  earth-dimmed  eyes  behold. 

"But  ways  must  have  an  end. 
Creeds  undergo  the  trial  flame. 
Nor  with  the  impure  the  Saints  forever  blend, 

Heaven's  glory  with  our  shame: 
Think  on  that  hour,  and  choose  'twixt  soft  and  bold." 

—Keble  on  Dissent. 

IN  connection  with  the  prayers  in  which  our  Church  has 
continued  steadfastly,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  even  in 
the  manner  and  the  accessories  of  public  worship,  our 
Church  has  followed  the  general  course  marked  out  by  the 
primitive  Church. 

Dissenters  usually  dt  down  to  pray  and  often  to  sing 
praises,  and  almost  all  of  them,  at  their  Communion  ser- 
vices, receive  the  elements  in  the  same  undevotional  pos- 
ture.   It  is  the  custom  of  Churchmen,  enforced  by  rubic 


AUTHORITY.  231 


and  canon  law,  to  make  hodUy  reverence  an  accompani- 
ment, or  rather  a  part,  of  divine  worship,  the  general  prin- 
ciple being  for  the  congregation  to  kneel  in  prayer,  to  stand 
in  praise,  and  to  remain  seated  during  other  parte  of  the  ser- 
vice, such  as  the  lessons  and  the  sermon.  That  this  change 
of  position  is  a  rest  in  itself,  and  relieves  the  monotony 
of  a  long  service  is  a  practical  argument  in  its  favor  ;  but 
the  real  ground  of  it  is  the  authority  of  primitive  example 
and  unbroken  Church  usage,  which  is  after  all  the  natural 
expression  of  the  devotional  instinct. 

Perhaps  some  one  will  say :  What  has  the  position  of 
the  muscles  and  bones  of  my  body  to  do  with  the  prayers 
of  my  soul?  What  difference  does  it  make  whether  the 
angle  of  articulation  between  the  femur  and  the  tibia  be  an 
angle  of  90  or  of  180  degrees?  —  that  is  to  say,  whether 
the  knee  be  bent  or  no.  Well,  as  a  matter  of  physical 
anatomy  it  makes  no  difference  ;  as  an  act  of  bodily  exer- 
cise it  profiteth  little.  But  as  a  matter  of  religious  ser- 
vice, of  sincere  devotion,  it  marks  the  difference  between 
the  reverent  worshipper  and  the  irreverent.  What  differ- 
ence does  it  make  whether  a  man  enter  a  drawing-room 
with  proper  decorum,  or  with  hat  on  and  hands  in  pockets  ? 
Why,  just  the  difference  between  a  gentleman  and  a  clown. 
"We  strive  to  be  polite,  urbane,  considerate  of  others  ;  and 
well  we  may.  Domestic  decorum,  social  civility,  and  grace 
of  manner,  born  of  the  instinctive  courtesy  which  renders 
honor  to  whom  honor  is  due,  not  only  prove  the  kindly 
heart  within,  but  by  a  well  known  law  of  reciprocal  action, 
minister  to  and  increase  the  same.  He  who  would  be  cour- 
teous must  act  courteously;  and  he  who  would  be  reverent 
in  heart  must  be  reverent  in  his  outward  demeanor.   There 


232         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

is  then  such  a  thing  as  divine  courtesy,  the  humble,  rever- 
ent, etiquette  of  God's  House,  the  grand  and  worshipful 
decorum  of  the  palace  and  court  of  the  Great  King. 
What !  shall  we  be  polite  to  our  fellow-men,  and  rude  to 
our  Heavenly  Father?  Shall  we  regard  even  the  artificial 
conventionalisms  of  society,  and  forget  the  ritual  of  God's 
Church  ?  Shall  we  observe  the  proprieties  of  the  parlor, 
and  not  respect  the  sanctities  of  Jehovah's  temple  ?  Shall 
we  present  a  petition  to  an  earthly  prince,  on  bended  knee, 
and  (like  English  courtiers)  bow  even  before  the  empti/ 
throne  of  majesty;  and  yet,  when  we  oflFer  our  prayers  to 
the  King  of  Kings,  shall  we  sit  bolt  upright,  or  stand  with- 
out so  much  as  a  feeling  of  awe  before  God's  Altar  Throne  ? 
Surely  to  ask  such  questions  is  to  answer  them. 

And  as  to  Scriptural  warrant  and  primitive  examplcj 
what  a  cloud  of  witnesses  surrounds  us  !  See  Abraham 
"  bowed  toward  the  ground  "  in  the  plains  of  Mamre,^  and 
his  servant  Eliezer,  when  by  the  well  of  the  city  of  Nahor, 
"he  bowed  down  his  head  and  worshipped  the  Lord."^ 
Witness  Moses  and  Aaron  on  their  faces  before  the  Ark  of 
God,^  and  David  throughout  his  life  of  prayer.  Witness 
Solomon  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple,  "  before  the 
altar  of  the  Lord,  kneeling  on  his  knees,  with  his  hands 
spread  up  to  heaven."  ^  Call  to  mind  that  memorable  occa- 
sion when  "Jehosaphat  bowed  his  head  with  his  face  to 
the  ground,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  fell  before 
the  Lord,  worshipping  the  Lord."^  Witness  Daniel  when, 
with  his  windows  open  toward  Jerusalem,  "  he  kneeled 
upon  his  knees  three  times  a  day,  and  prayed  and  gave 

1.  Gen.,  xviii.,  2.    2.  Gen.,  xxiv.,  4S.     3.  Num.,  xx.,  6;  xvi.,  22,  etc.     4.  I. 
Kings,  viii.,  54.    5.  II.  Chron.,  xx.,  18. 


AUTHORITY.  233 


thanks  before  Ms  God."^  Behold  our  Divine  Master — in 
His  agony  in  the  garden  He  "  fell  on  his  face  and  prayed."  " 
See  the  Martyr  Stephen,^  and  St.  Peter,^  and  St.  Paul/o  oa 
their  knees  in  prayer.  St.  John  also  gives  us  a  glimpse 
of  angelic  ritual  in  heaven.  He  looks,  and  lo  !  "  the  four 
and  twenty  elders  fall  down  before  Him  that  sat  on  the 
throne,  and  worship  Him  that  liveth  forever  and  ever,  and 
cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne.  *  *  *  And  all  thfr 
angels  fell  before  the  throne  on  their  faces,  and  worshipped 
God,"^i  The  same  principle  of  reverence  was  carried  into- 
the  early  Church.  St.  Paul  says  :  "  I  bow  my  knees  unto 
the  Father," ^^  and  "at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
should  bow,"  ^^  while  St.  James,  the  first  Bishop  of  Jeru- 
salem, used  to  spend  so  much  of  his  time  in  the  true  atti- 
tude of  devotion,  that  his  knees  became  like  the  knees  of 
camels. 

There  are,  of  course,  among  the  difiFerent  races  of  men^ 
certain  difierences  in  the  manner  of  expressing  reverence. 
Western  races  uncover  the  head  as  an  act  of  reverence ; 
Orientals  remove  the  shoes,  which  is  as  natural  to  them  as 
lifting  the  hat  is  to  us.  Races  difier  also  as  to  their  posture 
in  prayer.  Some  stand,  some  kneel,  some  prostrate  them- 
selves. Customs,  even  among  the  same  people,  may  differ 
from  age  to  age.  The  ritual  of  the  early  Church  required 
the  congregations  to  kneel  at  public  prayer  on  week  days^ 
fast  days,  and  even  on  all  Sundays  in  Lent  and  Advent ; 
but  on  other  Sundays,  and  on  all  high  festivals,  the  peo- 
ple stood  in  prayer,  in  order  to  show  that  the  Lord's  Day" 

6.  Dan.,  vi.,  10.    7.  St.  Matt.,  xxvi.,  39.    8.  Acts,  vii.,  60.     9.  Acts,  ix.,  40. 
10.  Acts,  XX.,  36,  and  xxi.,  5.    11.  Rev.,  iv.,  10,  and  \\\.,  11.    12.  Eph.,  iii.,  14. 
13.  Phil.,  ii.,  10. 


234         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

was  not  a  penitential  day,  not  the  "  Sabbath  "  (as  modern 
Dissenters  call  it),  but  a  holy  and  joyous  festival.  The 
distinction,  however,  did  not  long  remain  in  the  West. 
The  general  sense  of  Christians  seemed  to  be  that  kneel- 
ing is  the  proper  attitude  for  prayer  —  the  chief  exception 
being  that  the  minister,  when  he  performs  what  our  Prayer 
Book  calls  a  distinctively  "sacerdotal  function,"  should 
stand.  The  distinction,  however,  while  it  lasted,  was  only 
Isetween  kneeling  and  standing  in  prayer.  Such  a  thing 
as  the  modern,  lazy,  don't-care  kind  of  ritualism  which 
■dts  down  to  worship,  was  never  dreamed  of  in  the  Church, 
save  as  being  allowable  for  cripples,  invalids,  and  those 
who  through  some  unusual  illness  or  fatigue  are  unable  to 
kneel.  There  is,  moreover,  a  devout  custom  which  has 
been  universal  in  the  Church  for  some  sixteen  centuries, 
and  probably  quite  general  from  the  beginning,  viz.,  bow- 
ing at  the  mention  of  the  sacred  name  of  Jesus,  wherever 
it  occurs,  but  especially  in  the  Creed  and  Gloria  in  Excelsk. 
When  American  patriots  at  a  political  meeting  hear  the 
name  of  Washington,  they  applaud ;  when  the  followers 
of  Incarnate  God,  assembled  for  worship,  hear  that  Holy 
Name  in  which  He  wrought  out  their  redemption,  they 
bow,  in  grateful,  loving,  reverent  adoration.  Angels  wor- 
ship Jesus  Christ.  The  Father  Himself  has  commanded 
it,  for  we  read  :  "  When  He  bringeth  in  the  First-begotten 
into  the  world.  He  saith,  '  and  let  all  the  angels  of  God 
worship  Him.'"^"*  And  if  angels  adore  Him,  shall  not  we 
who  are  redeemed  by  Him  ?  As  soon,  therefore,  as  "  here- 
sies of  perdition  "  led  men  to  "  deny  the  Lord  who  bought 
them,"  and  to  refuse  to  worship  Christ,  the  very  sound  of 

14.  Heb.,  i.,  6.   See  also  Rev.,  v.,  6-14. 


AUTHORITY.  235 


Jesus'  Name  became  to  orthodox  Christians  an  invitation, 
nay  a  challenge,  to  adore  Him,  to  proclaim  "  Worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain,"  to  feel  like  Thomas  when  he 
cried  :  "  My  Lord  and  My  God  !  "  ^^  It  is  true  that  most 
of  us  bow  only  in  the  Creed  and  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis,  but  in 
theory  our  Church  keeps  up  the  old  custom,  for  she  bids 
her  children  adore  whenever,  in  Divine  service  the  name 
of  Jesus  is  heard.  See  the  fifty-second  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's injunctions  (a.  d.  1559)  and  the  eighteenth  canon 
of  the  English  Church  (passed  in  1603,  and  still  in  force), 
which  says : 

"And  likewise,  when,  in  time  of  divine  service,  the  Lord 
Jesus  shall  be  mentioned,  due  and  lowly  reverence  shall 
be  done  by  all  persons  present,  as  it  hath  been  accus- 
tomed." 1^ 

It  is  then  a  part  of  our  continuity  in  Scriptural  and 
Apostolic  worship  to  ask  our  clergy  and  people  to  be  rev- 
erent in  their  demeanor,  to  "  glorify  God  with  their  bodies 
and  their  spirits  which  are  His."    Many  of  our  dissenting  ( 
brethren  see  the  propriety  of  this  ;  and  in  times  of  special  | 
religious  fervor  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  and  still  j 
more  frequently  Methodists,  kneel  in  public  prayer ;  while  ( 
in  private  prayer,  or  about  the   "  family   altar  " — freed  t 
from  the  unnatural  restraints  of  the  "  meeting-house  "  and  \ 
the  pitiable  self-consciousness  which  is  born  of  uncatholic  U,  ^ 
individualism,  these  same  people  are  always  wont  to  kneel  ■      J*^ 

15.  St.  John,  XX.,  28. 

16.  See  a  learned  layman's  treatment  of  this  subject,  "By  What  Laws  the 
Am.  Ch.  is  Governed,"  by  S.  Corning  Judd,  Am.  Ch.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1882,  pp.  214-216. 
Also  speech  of  Sir  Edw.  Bering,  in  House  of  Commons,  quoted  in  Mine's  Presb. 
Olerg.,  pp.  83&-337. 


236  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

in  reverent  and  devout  worship,  in  which  I  have  rejoiced 
and  do  rejoice  to  unite  with  them. 

The  same  principle  of  Anglo-Catholic  continuity  applies 
to  the  Church  Year.  The  Bible  and  all  Jewish  History 
set  before  us  the  idea  of  sacred  seasons,  the  round  of  festi- 
val and  fast.  The  early  Christians  largely  observed  the 
Mosaic  year.  St.  Paul  "  hasted  to  be  at  Jerusalem  the 
Day  of  Pentecost."  ^^ 

Soon  three  great  Christian  Festivals,  Christmas,  Easter, 
and  Whitsun  Day,  took  the  place  of  the  three  great  Jewish 
Feasts,  while  Good  Friday  succeeded  to  the  solemn  Day 
of  Atonement,  the  ante-type  to  its  type.  Indeed,  from  the 
very  day  of  the  Lord's  Resurrection,  a  weekly  Easter,  the 
Lord's  Day,  took  the  place  of  the  Sabbath. 

If  Americans  who  lightly  esteem  the  Church's  Year — 
but  go  wild  over  the  "  May  Anniversaries  "  of  tract  socie- 
ties, boards  of  commissioners,  and  the  like,  who  enter  with 
zeal  into  Luther  and  Wiclif  celebrations,  and  keep  politi- 
cal, biographical,  scientific,  literary  and  domestic  anni- 
versaries and  centennials — would  reverently  place  them- 
selves back  in  Apostolic  times,  they  would  see  that  the 
rise  of  the  Christian  Year  was  authoritative  and  inevitable.. 
For  example,  it  is  inconceivable  that  the  blessed  Apostles 
could  ever  have  found  themselves  in  the  Paschal  Seasoa 
without  recalling  the  events  of  Holy  Week.  Suppose  it  i& 
A.  D.  53.  The  Jews  are  occupied  with  the  Passover. 
What  memories,  0  what  memories  must  crowd  upon  an 
Apostle's  mind  !  Twenty  j'-ears  ago  to-day  they  nailed 
Him  to  the  Cross  for  our  sins.  Let  us  fast  and  pray.  Or: 
— This  is  the  anniversary  of  that  glorious  morn  when  our 

17.     Acts,  XX.,  IG. 


AUTHORITY.  237 


TH 


Master  rose  from  the  dead.     Therefore,  let  us  keep  the  Feast. 

And  so  the  Christian  year  began.     Taking  Easter  as  a 
specimen,  I  quote  the  words  of  Dr.  Blunt :  ^^ 

"  They  who  went  about '  preaching  Jesus  and  the  Resur- 
rection,' and  who  observed  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a 
continual  memorial  of  that  Resurrection,  must  have  re- 
membered with  vivid  and  joyous  devotion  the  anniversary 
of  theii:  Lord's  restoration  to  them.     It  was  kept  as  the 
principal  festival  of  the  year,  therefore,  in  the  very  first 
age  of  the  Church,  and  Easter  had  become  long  familiar 
to  all  parts  of  the  Christian  world  so  early  as  the  days  of 
Polycarp  and  Anicetus,  who  had  a  consultation  at  Rome 
in  A.  D.  158,  as  to  whether  it  should  be  observed  according 
to  the   reckoning  of  the   Jewish   or  Gentile   Christians. 
[Irenseus  in  Euseb.  v.,  24.]   Eusehius  also  records  the  fact 
that  Melitus,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  about  the  same  time,  wrote 
two  books  on  the  Paschal  Festival  [Euseb.  iv.,  26],  and 
Tertullian  speaks  of  it  as  annually  celebrated,  and  the 
most  solemn  day  for  Baptism.     [De  Jejun.  14,  De  Bapt., 
19.]     Cyprian,  in  one  of  his  epistles,  mentions  the  cele- 
bration of  Easter  solemnities  [Ivii.];  and  in  writers  of  later 
date  the  festival  is  constantly  referred   to  as  the  'most 
holy   Feast,'  '  the  great  Day '  [Cone,  Ancyra,  vi.],  '  the 
Feast    of   Feasts,'    'the    Great    Lord's   Day,'   and  'the 
Queen  of  Festivals.     [Greg.,  Naz.,  Orat.,  in  Pasch,]" 

Our  own  Church,  through  all  its  deformations  and 
reformations,  has  always  had  the  same  Christian  Year.  No 
hreak  was  made  in  the  sixteenth  century,  no  change  save 
to  weed  the  Calender  of  some  superfluous  days  of  recent 
origin  and  questionable    propriety.      As   one  has  said: 

18.    Annot.  P.  B.,  pp.  103  and  104. 


238         REASON'S  FOB  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

"  The  Christian  Year  is  a  lively  and  systematic  exposition 
of  the  Christian  Creed." 

So  it  is  with  other  points,  such  as  the  respective  func- 
tions of  bishops,  priests  and  deacons,  the  form  and  man- 
ner of  ordaining,  the  power  and  use  of  Absolution,  the 
architecture  and  arrangement  of  churches,  the  vestments 
of  the  clergy,  etc. 

A  single  word  as  to  the  last.  The  Jewish  ministry  was 
ceremonially  vested  by  divine  command.  It  is  not  likely 
that  the  Christian  ministry  would  forego  a  custom  so 
natural,  reverent  and  appropriate.  As  soon,  therefore,  as 
the  Church  was  able  to  have  regular  and  well-ordered  ser- 
vices, the  clergy  appear  to  have  worn  a  distinctive  dress 
in  their  public  ministrations.  Many  think  that  the 
"  cloak  "  which  St.  Paul  "  left  at  Troas,"  was  an  Episco- 
pal vestment.  St.  James  in  Jerusalem  and  St.  John  in 
Ephesus  used  to  wear  the  mitre  of  the  High  Priest.^^ 

During  the  ages  of  persecution,  when  the  Church  wor- 
shipped "  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,"  there  is  no  clear 
evidence  that  the  clergy  in  general  wore  vestments,  but  as 
soon  as  it  was  safe  and  practicable  the  custom  became 
universal  ;^^  and  has,  of  course,  been  perpetuated  in  the 
Anglican  Church. 

For  all  the  distinctive  features  of  our  Church  we  have 
primitive  precedent  and  historic  usage  almost  absolutely 
uninterrupted  from  the  beginning  ;  and  for  most  of  them 
we  have  Catholic,  Apostolic,  Scriptural,  Divine  authority, 
while  none  of  them  are  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God. 

19.  See  Polycrates,  ap.  Euseb.,  iii.,  31,  for  St.  John.  Epiphanius  asserts  the 
same,  and  appeals  to  St.  Clement  as  authority  for  the  statement,  Haer,  xxix.,  4. 
Hegesippus  affirms  it  of  St.  James,  ap.  Euseb.,  ii.,  23. 

20.  See  Van  Antwerp's  Ch.  Hist.,  vol.  1,  p.  64. 


AUTHORITY.  231> 


There  are  a  few  matters  of  ceremonial  and  a  few  methods 
of  work,  certainly  harmless  and  probably  useful,  for  which 
ancient  and  quite  general  authority  can  be  alleged,  but 
which  have  fallen  into  disuse  among  us.  Our  Church  has 
never  condemned  them,  they  can  be  fully  restored  at  any 
time,  and  are  decidedly  non-essential,  anyway.  If  there 
be  one  sign  above  another  of  our  Church's  justification, 
one  key-note  of  the  Anglo-Catholic  position,  it  is  the  word 
Continuity, — continuity  in  all  the  essentials  of  the  Catho- 
lic religion  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  has  now  been  shown  that  Christ  founded  an  enduring 
Universal  Church,  with  a  perpetual  ministry.  The  marks  of 
that  Church  are  apparent  in  Holy  Scripture  and  in  ancient 
history.  Of  the  three  great  divisions  of  English-speaking 
Christians  to-day,  Anglo-Catholics,  Roman  Catholics,  and 
Protestant  Dissenters,  to  which  ought  we  to  belong  ? 

The  Dissenters  have  no  historic  continuity  with  the 
Early  Church,  and  for  the  most  part  do  not  pretend  to 
have  ;  have  lost  the  Church's  ministry,  the  Christian  Year,^ 
Common  Prayer,  and,  to  an  appalling  degree,  the  Faith, 
the  Sacraments,  the  services,  and  the  usages  of  Catholic 
antiquity  ;  and  have  wholly  lost  the  idea  of  authority  and 
of  unity  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  Roman  Church  has  added  to  the  Faith  a  few 
untrue,  and  many  unnecessary  dogmas  ;  has  over-ridden 
the  Bible  and  the  General  Councils ;  has  added  creature 
worship  to  "The  Prayers  ";  has  mutilated  the  Chief  Sac- 
rament ;  has  committed  schism  in  four  out  of  the  five 
Patriarchates  ^^  and  in  the  autocephalous  Churches ;  has 

21.  It  is  the  charge  made  by  the  whole  Eastern  Church  that  the  Pope  of 
Rome,  as  but  one  of  five  Patriarchs,  has  schismatically  broken  away  from  the 
other  four. 


240         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

thrust  a  fallible  man  into  the  throne  of  God  on  earth 
and  has  presumed  to  elevate  a  woman  (albeit  the  holiest 
of  the  daughters  of  Eve)  to  the  throne  of  the  Adorable 
Trinity  in  Heaven.  And  whatever  may  be  said  for  the 
authority  of  the  Roman  Church  in  Italy,  as  the  national 
Church  thereof,  certainly  within  Anglo-Saxon  Christen- 
dom it  is  nothing  but  a  foreign,  intruding,  schismatic 
Church,  having  no  mission  and  jurisdiction,  and  no  his- 
toric continuity,  no  organic  connection  with  the  old 
Church  of  England. 

The  Anglo-Catholic  Church,  on  the  other  hand,  has  re- 
tained, in  unbroken  continuity,  all  the  essential  elements 
of  true  Catholicity,  while  free  from  corrupt  and  unneces- 
sary additions.  She  is  Catholic  ;  she  is  reformed  ;  she  is 
Scriptural ;  she  is  authoritative ;  she  is  that  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  which  has  jurisdiction  over  the  Anglo- 
American  race ;  she  has  continued  steadfastly  in  the 
Faith,  the  ministry,  the  Sacraments,  and  the  worship  of 
the  Apostohc  Church.     In  a  word,  we  may  say  to  her : 

"Antiquom  nbtines,^'^ 

"  How  well  in  thee  appears, 
The  constant  custom  of  the  antique  world."  23 

And  as  to  those  who  have  "gone  out  from  us,"  but  who 
love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  still  our  brothers,  and 
the  Merciful  Father  is  the  Judge  of  all,  and  will  do  right. 
Be  ours  the  prayer  of  Hezekiah  :  "  The  good  Lord  pardon 
everyone  that  prepareth  his  heart  to  seek  God,  the  Lord 
God  of  his  fathers,  though  he  be  not  cleansed  according  to 
the  purification  of  the  sanctuary."** 

22.  Ter.  Andria,  Act  IV.,  Sc.  iv.,  817.    23.  "As  You  Like  It,"  H.,  3,  56.    24.  II. 
Chron.,  xxx.,  18-19. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

THE   ARGUMENT   FROM   EXPEDIENCY. 

"  Rise,  Sion,  rise,  and  looking  forth, 
Behold  thy  children  round  thee  I 
From  East  and  West,  and  South  and  North 

Thy  scattered  sons  have  found  thee  1 
And  in  thy  hosom,  Christ  adore 
For  ever  and  for  evermore." 

—From  the  Haute  de  Klete  of  St.  John  Damascene  (Neale's  "Hymns  of  the 
Eastern  Church"). 

THE  fact  that  Christ  founded  an  authoritative  kingdom 
on  the  earth,  of  which  the  Anglican  Church  is  a  pure 
and  complete  branch,  ought  to  make  a  Churchman  of 
every  English-speaking  Christian,  irrespective  of  tastes, 
personal  preferences,  and  considerations  of  temporary  ex- 
pediency. 

The  question  is  not :  ^Vhich  of  the  three  systems  (the 
Anglo-Catholic,  the  Papal,  or  the  Protestant)  do  I  like 
best  ?  but  which  is  right,  authoritative,  divine  ?  We  have 
found  the  Anglican  so  to  be.  Any  other  system,  therefore, 
so  far  as  English-speaking  Christians  are  concerned,  may 
logically  be  met  with  Tevtullisin'a  praescriptio  in  limine  (like 
a  case  in  court  which  is  ''quashed  "  or  dismissed  without 
a  trial),  for  "  what  is  new  is  none." 

Nevertheless  there  are  some  people  who  care  nothing  for 


242         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

authority,  but  consult  only  their  own  preferences.  To  such 
while  freely  admitting  the  good  there  is  in  all  systems  of 
Christianity,  even  the  most  defective,  we  need  not  fear  to 
hold  up  the  superior  advantages  of  the  Church  in  its  or- 
ganization and  in  its  practical  methods  of  worship,  teach- 
ing and  work. 

Of  the  three  systems  of  Christianity  among  us,  the 
Anglican  is  the  only  one  which  both  holds  to  the  past 
and  adapts  itself  to  the  present.  The  Roman,  despite  its 
many  innovations,  does  hold  to  the  past,  but  it  is  as  far  as 
possible  from  adapting  itself  to  the  present,  being  totally 
at  variance  with  the  genius — even  the  better  genius — of 
modern  times  i^  while  as  for  Dissent,  it  breaks  wholly 
with  the  past  and  in  adapting  itself  to  the  present,  too 
often  sacrifices  essentials  of  Christian  doctrine  and  devo- 
tion to  the  itching  ears  and  the  restless,  creedless  spirit  of 
modern  society .^  But  the  Church  is  at  once  stable  and 
elastic,  conservative  and  progressive. 

All  the  elements  of  Catholicity  are  not  only  of  divine  au- 
thority (as  we  have  seen),  but  are,  in  the  long  run,  so  practi- 
cally beneficialthatthey  may  well  challenge  the  admiration 
of  the  mere  utilitarian.  Indeed  the  bare  imitation  of  some 
of  them — e.  g.,  the  Methodist  imitation  of  the  Episcopate, 
and  occasional  imitations  of  Catholic  worship  and  Sacra- 
ments in  various  denominations — have  been  found  so  ad- 
vantageous that  there  is  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of 
many  practical  and  farsighted  Dissenters  to  adopt,  as  a 
matter  of  expediency  in  order  to  keep  their  children  from 
flocking  to  the  Church,  many  customs   of  the  Church 

1.  See  the  Syllabus  of  Pius  IX.     2.  See  II.  Tim.,  Iv.,  3. 


PRACTICAL  ADVANTAGES.  243 

which  they  once  condemned.  The  reading  of  the  Bible 
in  public  worship,  religious  services  at  weddings  and 
funerals,^  the  use  of  instrumental  music,  the  singing  of 
hymns  and  even  chants  and  anthems,  a  lessening  of  the 
grim  requirements  for  "joining  the  church,"  a  milder  and 
more  Churchly  treatment  of  Christ's  little  ones,  a  partial 
escape  from  the  pestilent  superstition  touching  the  neces- 
sity of  "  instantaneous  conversion," — a  cruel  bug-bear  "^ 
which  has  frightened  many  a  pure,  gentle,  sensitive  soul 
away  from  all  religion — the  use  of  the  Holy  Cross — which 
used,  with  shocking  profanity,  to  be  called  the  "mark  of  the 
beast,"  a  growing  belief  in  Paradise  or  the  immediate  state, 
the  imitation  of  Church  architecture,  a  partial  adoption  of 
the  Church's  year,  of  the  Church's  nomenclature,  of  the 
Church's  idea  of  worship  (as  distinguished  from  mere 
preaching  and  exhortation),^  and  even  of  liturgies,  minis- 
terial vestments,  banners,  processions,  lights,  ecclesiastical 
colors,  and  ritual  in  general,  albeit  sometimes  strangely 
symbolic;  more  frequent  Celebrations,  and  notably  less 

3.  See  "Puritanism;  or  a  Churchman's  Defence  against  its  Aspersions," 
by  the  late  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Coit,  D.D.,  of  Berkeley. 

4.  "  Of  course  it  would  be  idle  to  expect  those  outside  the  pale  to  appreciate 
our  system,  because  if  they  did  they  would  be  outside  no  longer.  Nevertheless, 
there  are  from  time  to  time  remarkable  and  most  touching  isdications  of  an 
instinctive  yearning  after  Catholic  faith  and  practice  amongst  those  who  as  yet 
know  them  not.  Here  is  an  example :  The  congregation  of  Govan,  a  suburb  of 
Glasgow,  recently  presented  a  testimonial  to  their  minister,  Dr.  John  Macleod, 
who  in  returning  thanks  referred  to  that  happy  time  '  when  the  Church,  i.  e.,  the 
Presbyterian  bodies,  would  repent  of  the  blunder  she  had  so  long  committed  in 
substituting  the  purely  human  invention  of  perpetual  preaching  and  hearing  of 
sermons,  for  that  which  undoubtedly  was  the  distinctive  ordinance  of  the  weekly 
worship,  the  perpetual  pleading  by  the  holy  priesthood  of  the  })ower  of  the  sac- 
rifice for  all  men  before  the  Throne  of  the  Eternal,  and  the  feeding  upon  the 
Heavenly  food  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord.'  We  can  only  pray  that  this 
good  man  may  soon  discover  where  he  may  at  once  obtain  what  he  wants." — 
Church  Times. 


244  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

disagreeable  mannerisms,^  unreasonable  asceticism,  and 
pseudo- Judaic  Sabbatarianism;  and,  above  all,  more  sweet- 
ness and  beauty,  and  joy  in  the  Christian  life,  with  more 
charity  for  the  Church, — all  these  things  show  a  tendency, 
on  the  part  of  those  whose  ancestors  left  the  Church,  to 
return  to  the  Church's  bosom.  They  are  a  vindication  of 
the  Church's  system,  showing  that  its  general  features  are 
not  only  harmless,  but  desirable  and  good.  As  Dr.  Hop- 
kins, the  Presbyterian  champion  of  liturgical  worship, 
says  "  the  tracks  are  all  one  way.^''  The  tendency  of  de- 
vout and  thoughtful  Dissenters  is  unquestionably  toward 
the  Church.  They  wonder  now  at  the  fierce  passions  and 
petty  whims  which  led  their  ancestors  to  break  with  the 
Historic  Church.  It  is  said  that  descendants  of  Luther 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Roman  priesthood,  and  descendants 
of  Cromwell  in  the  priesthood  of  the  English  Church; 
while  descendants  of  Cotton  Mather,  and  indeed  of  almost 
every  Puritan  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  New  Eng- 
land, are  to  be  found  among  the  clergy  or  the  laity  of  the 
American  Church. 

The  practical  advantages  of  the  Episcopal  form  of  gov- 
ernment are  as  obvious  as  the  fact  of  its  Apostolic  authority 
is  incontrovertible.  But  perhaps  the  argument  which 
weighs  most  with  outsiders  who  have  not  heard,  or  do  not 

5.  In  the  reasonable,  cultivated,  urbane,  and  to  all  outward  appearances 
Churchly  Congregationalist  one  meets  in  Boston  society  to-day,  it  is  hard  to  rec- 
ognize a  descendant  of  the  so-called  "  Pilgrim  Fathers,"  or  the  English  Puritans 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  whose  idiosyncrasies  were  a  part  of  their  religion. 
The  reader  will  recall  Macauley's  vivid  description  of  them:  -The  ostentatious 
simplicity  of  their  dress,  their  sour  aspect,  their  nasal  twang,  their  stiff  posture, 
their  long  graces,  their  Hebrew  names,  the  Scriptural  phrases  which  they  intro- 
duced on  every  occasion,  their  contempt  of  human  learning,  their  detestation  of 
polite  amusements,  etc."    Essay  on  Milton. 


PRACTICAL  ADVANTAGEIS.  245 

grasp,  the  argument  from  authority,  lies  in  the  usefulness 
and  beauty  of  our  dear  old  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
Said  a  Congregafionalist  minister  who,  like  many  of  his 
brethren,  is  an  appreciative  observer  of  the  Church  : 

"  The  proper  name,  because  truly  descriptive,  for  this 
Church,  would  be  Church  of  the  Prayer  Book.  As  is  the 
way  with  all  other  churches,  so  here  the  Church  champions 
and  leaders  have  many  wise  things  to  say  about  the  Church 
and  her  perogative.  But  the  pious  multitude  that  frequent 
her  courts,  are  drawn  thither  mostly  by  love  of  the  prayers 
and  praises,  the  litanies  and  lessons  of  the  Prayer  Book. 

"And,  brethren  of  every  name,  I  certify  you  that  you 
rarely  hear  in  any  church  a  prayer  spoken  in  English,  that 
is  not  indebted  to  the  Prayer  Book  for  some  of  its  choicest 
periods. 

"And  further,  I  doubt  whether  life  has  in  store  for  any 
of  you  an  uplift  so  high,  or  downfall  so  deep,  but  that  you 
can  find  company  for  your  soul,  and  fitting  words  for  your 
lips  among  the  treasures  of  this  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

"//I  all  time  of  our  tribulation  ;  in  all  time  of  our  prosperity  ; 
in  the  hour  of  death  and  in  the  day  of  Judgment ;  Good  Lord 
deliver  us. 

"As  a  consequence  of  the  Prayer  Book  and  its  use,  I 
note  : 

"The  Episcopal  Church  preserves  a  very  high  grade  of 
dignity,  decency,  propriety  and  permanence  in  all  her 
public  oflices. 

"  In  nearly  every  newspaper  you  may  read  some  funny 
Btory  based  upon  the  ignorance  or  eccentricity  or  blasphe- 
mous familiarity  of  some  extemporizing  prayer  maker. 
All  of  you  here  present  have  been  at  some  time  shocked 


246         REA80NS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

or  bored,  by  public  devotional  performances.  Nothing  of 
this  sort  ever  occurs  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  All  things 
are  done  and  spoken  decently  and  in  order. 

"And  so,  too,  of  permanence  and  its  accumulating  worth 
of  holy  association,  no  transient  observer  can  adequately 
value  this  treasure  of  a  birthright  Churchman. 

"To  be  using  to-day  the  self-same  words  that  have 
through  the  centuries  declared  the  faith  or  made  known 
the  prayer  of  that  mighty  multitude  who,  being  now  de- 
livered from  the  burden  of  the  flesh,  are  in  joy  and 
felicity. 

"  To  be  baptized  in  early  infancy,  and  never  to  know  a 
time  when  we  were  not  recognized  and  welcomed  among 
the  millions  who  have  entered  by  the  same  door. 

"  To  be  confirmed,  in  due  time,  in  a  faith  that  has  sus- 
tained a  noble  army  of  confessors,  approving  its  worth 
through  persecutions  and  prosperities,  a  strength  to  the 
tried  and  a  chastening  to  the  worldly-minded. 

"  To  be  married  by  an  authority  before  which  kings  and 
peasants  bow  alike,  asking  benediction  upon  the  covenant 
that,  without  respect  of  persons,  binds  by  the  same  words 
of  duty,  the  highest  and  the  lowest. 

"  To  bring  our  new-born  children,  as  we  were  brought, 
to  begin  where  we  began,  and  to  grow  up  to  fill  our 
places. 

*'  To  die  in  the  faith,  and  almost  hear  the  gospel  words 
soon  to  be  spoken  over  one's  own  grave  as  over  the  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand  of  them  who  have  slept  in  Jesus. 

"  In  short,  to  be  a  devout  and  consistent  Churchman, 
brings  a  man  through  aisles  fragrant  with  holy  associa- 
tion, and  companied  by  a  long  procession  of  the  good, 


PRACTICAL  ADVANTAGES.  247 

chanting  as  they  march  a  unison  of  piety  and  hope,  until 
they  come  to  the  holy  place  where  shining  saints  sing  the 
new  song  of  the  redeemed  ;  and  they  sing  with  them."^ 

In  the  same  strain,  Dr.  Phelps,  of  Andover,  writes  in  a 
memorable  epistle  : 

"A  friendly  study  of  the  Episcopal  Church  discloses 
certain  dominant  ideas,  which  we  who  cherish  Puritan 
traditions  may  with  profit  add  to  our  stock  of  wisdom. 
One  of  these  ideas  is  that  of  the  dignity  of  worship.  Of 
Christian  worship  no  other  branch  of  the  Church  universal 
has  so  lofty  an  idea  as  the  Church  of  England  and  its  off- 
shoot in  this  country.  In  all  the  liturgic  literature  of 
our  language,  nothing  equals  the  Anglican  Liturgy.  Its 
variety  of  thought,  its  spiritual  pathos,  its  choice  selection 
of  the  most  vital  themes  of  public  prayer,  its  reverent 
importunity,  its  theological  orthodoxy,  and  its  exquisite 
propriety  of  style,  will  commend  it  to  the  hearts  of  devout 
worshippers  of  many  generations  to  come,  as  they  have 
done  to  generations  past.  For  an  equipoise  of  balanced 
virtues  it  is  unrivaled. 

"  The  liturgic  forms  of  other  denominations  would  be 
saved  from  some  excrescenses  and  inanities  if  the  vener- 
able Book  of  Common  Prayer  were  more  generally  revered 
as  a  model.     *     *     * 

"  The  spirit  of  worship  is  deepened  by  the  use  of  liturgic 
forms,  in  which  holy  men  and  women  of  other  generations 
have  expressed  their  faith.  The  Lord's  prayer  has  been 
the  most  potent  educator  of  childhood  and  youth  that  the 
world  has  ever  known." 

6.    Lecture  on  the  Episcopal  Church,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  K.  Beecher. 


248         REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

He  also  observes  : 

"Another  of  the  ideas  dominant  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, which  we  do  well  to  accept  in  such  degree  as  our 
puritanic  faith  will  admit,  is  that  of  the  unity  and  moral 
authority  of  the  Church.  We  have  drifted  to  a  perilous 
extreme  in  our  advocacy  of  the  principles  of  individuality 
in  religious  life.     It  often  degenerates  into  individualism. 

"  The  Church  of  England  does  good  service  for  us  all  in 
conserving  this  Churchly  idea  without  crowding  it  to  the 
tyranny  of  the  Romish  hierarchy.  Divine  life  is  concen- 
trated in  one  true  and  living  Church.  That  article  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  '  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,' 
has  more  than  Apostolic  authority.  It  is  the  Word  of 
God.  It  represents  the  power  which  is  to  convert  this 
world  to  Christ; 

"  When  this  idea  of  Churchly  authority  is  presented  in 
its  biblical  simplicity,  the  common  sense  of  men  approves 
it.     Under  right  conditions  the  world  reveres  it." 

He  proceeds  : 

"The  Church  of  England,  furthermore,  does  good  ser- 
vice in  the  conservation  of  the  idea  of  the  historic  continuity 
of  the  Church.    *    *    * 

"  This  reverence  for  historic  continuity  as  a  factor  in 
religious  culture  is  found  developed  in  no  other  Protes- 
tant sect  so  profoundly  as  in  the  Church  of  England.  By 
her  fidelity  to  it  she  does  good  service  to  the  Church  of 
the  future." 

Or  in  the  words  of  the  lecturer  above  quoted  : 

"  The  Episcopal  Church  furnishes  (to  all  who  need  such 
comfort)  the  assurance  of  an  organic  and  unbroken  unity 


PRACTICAL  ADVANTAGES.  249' 

and  succession,  from  Jesus  Christ  through  the  Apostles^ 

by  a  line  of  authentic  bishops,  down  to  Bishop of 

this  diocese.     *     *     * 

"  Citizens  and  Christians,  all ! — Because  this  Episcopal 
Church  is  a  reformed  Church  and  not  revolutionary  ;  be- 
cause her  book  of  prayer  is  rich  and  venerable  above  all 
in  the  English  tongue ;  because  her  ritual  promotes 
decency,  dignity,  prosperity  and  permanence  ;  because 
her  historic  union  through  the  Apostles  with  Christ  com- 
forts and  satisfies  so  many  souls  ;  because  she  adopts  her 
infant  children  and  provides  for  them  education  and  drill; 
therefore,  from  her  own  psalter  let  us  take  the  words 
wherewith  to  bless  her  :  '  They  shall  prosper  that  love 
thee.  Peace  be  within  thy  walls,  and  plenteousness  with- 
in thy  palaces.  For  thy  brethren  and  companions'  sakes 
I  will  wish  thee  prosperity.  Yea,  because  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord  our  God  I  will  seek  to  do  thee  good.'  " 

Similar  sentiments  are  often  advanced  by  devout,  un- 
prejudiced Protestants,  who  see  the  beauty  of  the  Church, 
and  love  her  ;  but,  having  never  grasped  the  Sacramental 
system,  and  the  idea  of  the  Church's  unity  and  divine 
authority,  are  content  to  admire  her  from  without.  To 
such  and  to  all  our  non-conforming  brethren  who  study 
the  Church  at  all,  I  beg  to  say  a  single  word  : 

Love  the  Church  for  Christ's  sake.  And  if  we  Church- 
men, who  at  best  are  but  unworthy  sons  of  our  Holy  Mother, 
sometimes  appear  to  be  bigoted  or  uncharitable  when  we 
defend  our  Mother's  honor,  remember  we  do  not  feel  so, 
and  it  is  not  for  ourselves  that  we  contend,  but  for  her.  A 
true  Churchman's  love  for  the  Church  is  an  enthusiasm,  a 


250  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 


celestial  passion,  such  as  no  one  has  ever  felt  or  can  feel 
for  a  human  organization. 

"I  love  the  Cliurch,  the  Holy  Church, 

The  Saviour's  spotless  Bride; 
And  Oh,  I  love  her  palaces, 

Through  all  the  land  so  wide; 
The  cross-topped  spire  amid  the  trees, 

The  holy  bell  of  prayer, 
The  music  of  our  Mother's  voice. 

Our  Mother's  home  is  here."? 

Protestants  often  feel  the  spell  which  sometimes  takes 
devout,  impressionable,  sentimental  natures  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  where  they  become  devotees.  And  it  is  a  glory 
and  a  great  advantage  to  any  Church  to  be  able  to  inspire 
an  ardent  and  enthusiastic  love  in  this  cold  age.  But  I 
aflSrm  there  is  no  charm  on  the  cheek  of  her  that  sitteth 
upon  the  Seven  Hills,  which  can  for  one  moment  hold  com- 
parison with  the  holy  beauty  of  the  Saviour's  Bride,  when 
she  "  looketh  forth  as  the  morning,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as 
the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners."^  Roman 
Catholics  belong  to  the  Church,  and  love  the  Church,  and 
the  Roman  Church  is,  of  course,  a  part  of  Christ's  Catholic 
Church  ;  but  the  Papacy  itself  is  no  part  of  the  Church,  but 
a  blot  upon  it.  The  Papacy  is  indeed  "  terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners; "  but  it  is  the  non-papalized,  the  Catholic  Church 
alone,  that  is  "  beautiful  as  Tirzah,  comely  as  Jerusalem."  ^ 

But  on  the  fair  and  heavenly  graces  of  our  Mother,  who 
of  us  is  worthy  to  speak?  As  Macauley  says  of  Athenian 
literature,  "  It  is  a  subject  on  which  I  love  to  forget  the 
accuracy  of  a  judge,  in  the  veneration  of  a  worshipper, 
and  the  gratitude  of  a  child."  ^o 

7.  Bishop  Coxe,  Christian  Ballads.    8.  Solomon's  Song,  vi.,  10.    9.  id.,  vi.,  4. 
10.    Conclusion  of  Essay  on  Milford's  History  of  Greece. 


PRACTICAL  ADVANTAGES.  251 

When  one  has  grasped  the  Catholic  idea,  when  one  re 
•a!izes  frr  the  first  time  that  he  is  in  that  same  old  Church 
which  Grod  loved  and  purchased  with  His  own  Blood,  the 
■Chv.rch  in  which  the  blessed  Ap  js-les  lived  and  died  and 
are  living  still,  the  Church  of  the  Fathers,  the  Saints,  the 
Martyrs  of  yore,  the  Church  clad  in  the  white  rubes  of 
-early  tribulation,  and  crowned  with  the  garlands  of  Nicsea 
and  Constantinople,  the  Church  that  lifted  Britain  from 
barl^arism  and  made  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  "  a  chosen  peo- 
ple," the  leaders  of  the  world — when,  I  say,  the  truth 
dawns  upon  one  that  he  is  in  the  Church  of  the  Living 
Ood,  and  in  ;hLt  part  of  it  which  has  continued  most 
steadfas  ly  in  the  Apostles'  Doctrine  and  Fellowship,  Sac- 
raments and  Prayers,  there  is  given  him  an  uplift  of  soul, 
a  divine  enthusiasm  undreamed  of  before  and  not  elsewhere 
"to  be  obtained;  d  r.bt  seems  impossible,  righteousness 
grows  easier,  love  becomes  immortal,  and  salvation  is 
made  as  sure  as  the  possibilities  of  human  nature  allow. 
The  Catholic  Churchman,  and  the  Catholic  Churchman 
alone,  understands  this: 

"  Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  and  unto  the  City  of 
the  Living  God,  the  He  venly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innum- 
erable Company  of  Angels,  to  the  General  Assembly  and 
Ohurch  of  the  first  born,  which  are  written  in  Heaven,  and 
to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Cove- 
nant, and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  that  speaketh  better 
things  than  that  of  Abel."  And  after  such  a  description 
of  the  Church  as  that,  weU  does  the  Apostle  conclude: 
*'See  that  ye  refuse  not  Him  that  speaketh."^ 

6.    Heb.  xii.,  22,  23,  24. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  ARGUMENT   FROM   FUTURITY. 

"Wanderers!  come  home!    When  erring  most 
Christ's  Church  aye  kept  the  Faith,  nor  lost 

One  grain  of  Holy  Truth : 
She  ne'er  has  erred  as  those  ye  trust. 
And  now  shall  lift  her  from  the  dust. 
And  REIGN  as  in  her  youth !  " 

—Lyra  Apostolica,  p.  137. 

TO  complete  the  reasons  for  being  a  Churchman  accord- 
ing to  the  plan  proposed,  it  remains  to  consider- 
briefly  the  argument  from  futurity  :  Which  of  the  three 
systems  of  Christianity  in  vogue  amongst  us  has  the 
brightest  outlook  ?  is  surest  to  keep  the  Faith  ?  ofifers  the 
best  basis  for  the  reunion  of  Christendom  ? 

I.  A  century  ago  the  prospects  of  Anglo-Catholicism 
were  far  from  encouraging.  The  Church  was  bound  hand 
and  foot  by  an  Erastian  government.  Faith  and  piety,, 
the  Church  idea  and  missionary  activity  were  at  a  low 
ebb.  But  things  have  changed.  The  revival  of  Church 
life — begun  in  part  by  the  Wesleys,  and  by  the  so-called 
Evangelical  movement  early  this  centurj'^,  and  carried  out 
on  Catholic  lines  by  the  Oxford  movement  since  1833 — is 
one  of  the  grandest  revivals  in  the  religious  history  of  the 
world. 

Since  then  the  growth  of  the  English  Church  at  home 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS.  253 


—where  it  still  holds  three-fourths  of  the  population— 
among  the  colonies,  and  in  heathen  lands,  is,  for  present 
character  and  promise  of  permanency,  such  as  no  other 
religious  body  can  show. 

The  Church  in  the  United  States  was  almost  annihilated 
ty  the  Revolution  ;  it  took  fifty  years  for  it  to  recover 
■even  a  foothold  in  this  land.  Since  then  its  progress  has 
been  very  satisfactory,  and,  on  the  whole,  rather  more 
rapid  and  substantial  than  that  of  any  of  the  denomina- 
tions. Its  position  is  honorable  and  unique  in  the  relig- 
ious life  of  the  Western  world.  It  is  looked  up  to  and 
respected  by  all  classes.  Its  future  is  bright,  and  growing 
brighter  all  the  while. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  now  the  dominant  race  of  man- 
kind. The  English  language,  the  most  universal,  as  it  is 
the  most  perfect  of  modern  tongues,  is  now  spoken  by  at 
least  a  hundred  million  people.  At  the  present  rate  of 
increase  it  will  not  be  long  before  there  will  be  five  hun- 
dred million  men  speaking  the  English  language  and 
moulded  by  Anglo-Saxon  influences— among  which  influ- 
ences the  oldest,  most  characteristic,  most  permanent,  and 
most  potent  for  good,  is  the  Historic  Church,  everywhere 
identified  with  the  English-speaking  race.  In  hundreds 
of  European  cities,  and  in  the  military  and  commercial  cen- 
ters of  Asia,  Africa,  South  America,  and  the  islands  of  the 
sea,  wherever  a  community  of  Englishmen  is  to  be  found, 
there  is  almost  sure  to  be  an  Anglican  chapel  in  the  midst 
oi  them.  Besides  which  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  has 
been  translated  into  nearly  a  hundred  different  languages. 
Heretofore  when  comparisons  have  been  made  between 
the  English  Church  and  the  Roman,  there  has  always  been 


254         BSASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

an  element  of  numerical  unfairness,  the  English  Church 
being  but  one  national  Catholic  Church,  and  the  Romaa 
Church  being  a  vast  conglomeration  of  a  number  of  na- 
tional Catholic  Churches,  which  had  lost  their  ancient- 
independence.  The  only  fair  comparison  would  have  been, 
as  between  the  Church  of  England  and  some  one  national 
Church  of  about  the  same  size,  say  the  Church  of  France, 
or  the  Church  of  Spain,  or  the  Church  of  Italy.  But  the 
time  is  coming  when  the  national  Catholic  Churches  of 
England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  the  United  States,  Canada^ 
Australia,  India,  South  Africa,  and  other  colonies — to  say 
nothing  of  the  "  Old  Catholics,"  or  reformed  part  of  the  his- 
toric Church  in  Europe,  now  in  full  communion  with  the 
Anglo- Catholic,  and  not  to  mention  the  "  Orthodox  Catho- 
lic Eastern  Church  "  with  its  eighty-five  million  members. 
— will  surpass  the  Tridentine  Consolidation  in  numbers^ 
as  they  do  already  in  social,  intellectual,  moral,  and  spirit- 
ual influence,  and  that,  too,  without  any  tyrannous  and 
un-Catholic  centralization.  Indeed,  so  far  as  the  ethnic, 
political,  commercial,  linguistic,  and  ethical  prospects  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  are  an  indication,  the  outlook  of  the 
Anglo-Catholic  communion  is  brighter  by  far  than  the  out- 
look of  the  Roman,  whose  constituency  is  almost  wholly 
confined  to  the  less  moral,  less  intelligent,  less  dominant, 
less  progressive,  less  rapidly  increasing,  less  promising 
races  of  Southern  Europe  and  South  America,  among 
whom  infidelity  (especially  in  France  and  Italy),  is  sap- 
ping the  very  life  of  religion,  of  society,  and  of  the  state. 
Romanism  is  at  its  best  where  it  has  intruded  into  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Anglo-Catholic  Church.  It  is,  if  I  may 
so  say,  forced  to  be  on  its  good  behavior.   But  aside  from  its 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS.  255- 

being  here  an  unjustifiable  schism,^  which  has,  in  the  long 
run,  no  right  to  expect  the  blessing  of  God,  the  outlook  of 
the  schism  amongst  us  is  not  good.  Despite  most  strenu- 
ous efforts  put  forth  in  England,  and  in  spite  of  a  large 
Hibernian  immigration,  the  Anglo- Roman  schism  has  been 
relatively  losing  ground,  having  now  barely  three  and  a 
half  per  cent,  of  the  population  where  a  few  decades  ago  it 
had  from  four  to  five  per  cent.  And  of  that  small  percent- 
age not  one-sixth  are  English.  As  Mr.  Gladstone  computed 
in  1878,  "  probably  not  less  than  five-sixths  are  of  Irish 
birth,"  and  the  remaining  sixth  contains  many  aliens 
from  the  continent.  The  idea  that  an  Italian  schism  will 
ever  dominate  the  English  race,  while  the  Catholic  Church 
of  England  stands,  is  simply  frenzy. 

In  America  the  growth  of  the  Italian  mission  has  been, 
rapid  and  substantial,  not,  however,  from  its  inherent  fer- 
tility nor  from  its  earnest  and  faithful  proselytism,  but  as 
the  result  of  a  most  enormous  and  unprecedented  influx  of 
foreign  co-religionists  from  Ireland,  Germany,  and  else- 
where. The  Romano-American  papers  often  proclaim  a 
net  increase,  say  of  100,000  souls,  during  a  given  year. 
It  sounds  well.  But  during  the  same  year,  more  than  100,- 
000  Romanists  have  been  added  by  immigration  without 
which  the  "  net  increase  "  would  have  been  a  minus  quantity. 
A  candid  Roman  Catholic  prelate  recently  remarked  that  if 
his  Church  had  kept  all  Roman  Catholic  immigrants  and 
their  children,  it  would  have  some  20,000,000  adherents  in 
this  country,  instead  of  which  it  has  but  little  over  6,000,- 

1.  "  The  guilt  of  schism  rests  on  the  Church  of  Kome,  and  the  Roman  Church 
since  a.  d.,  1570,  has  occupied  in  England  the  position  of  a  permanently  schis- 
matical  body."— The  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Rich. 


256         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

-000.  It  is,  moreover,  out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit  and 
genius  of  American  institutions  and  popular  liberty'- ;  and 
can  only  bring  itself  into  harmony  therewith  by  an  act  of 
Jelo  de  se,  the  Syllabus  of  the  late  "  Infallible  "  Pio  Nono, 
being  witness. 

The  United  States  is  the  Paradise  of  Protestantism. 
Owing  to  the  character  of  the  early  settlers,  and  the  almost 
total  destruction  of  the  English  Church  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, sectarianism  here  far  outnumbers  both  the  Church  and 
the  Roman  schism.  Its  prospects  are  brighter  here  than 
anywhere  else.  Nevertheless,  in  the  j  udgment  of  thoughtful 
men,  both  within  and  without  the  Church,  its  total  lack  of 
authority,  its  uncertainty  in  matters  of  faith,  its  conflict- 
ing, multitudinous  divisions  and  sub-divisions,  its  tend- 
ency to  further  disintegration,  and  its  dependence  on  "  spas- 
modic religion,"  are  against  its  permanency  and  ultimate 
success  as  the  religion  of  the  English-speaking  race. 

Protestantism  is,  moreover,  about  to  pass  through  a 
fearful  ordeal.  It  has  always  blindly  proclaimed  itself 
The  Religion  of  the  Bible: — "  The  Bible  and  the  Bible  only 
the  religion  of  Protestants."  But  Protestantism  is  now 
beginning  to  be  uncertain  whether  the  Bible  is  inspired  ; 
what  constitutes  the  Bible  ;  whether  there  is  any  Bible  at 
all.  Protestantism  rejected  the  Church,  and  put  in  its 
place  that  Book  which  is  a  child  of  the  Church.  The 
New  Testament  was  written  by  Churchmen,  and  was  not 
completed  till  the  Church  was  more  than  sixty  years  old. 
The  canon  of  Scripture  rests  on  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  which  is  "The  Witness  and  Keeper  of  Holy 
Writ."  Destroy  the  Church,  and  you  have  logically  lost 
the  Bible.      Logic  is  inexorable,  and  will  at  last  make 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS.  257 

itself  felt.  Protestantism  is  going  to  wake  up  to  this  fact. 
Then  those  who  want  the  Bible  will  come  back  to  the 
Church,  while  those  who  refuse  to  conform  will  be  left 
Scriptureless  as  well  as  Churchless. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  whole  communities  laboring 
for  generations  under  a  logical  delusion  (as  St.  Paul  says, 
"  Blindness  in  part  is  happened  to  Israel  ").2  The  delu- 
sion of  Dissent — which  I  venture  to  call  Protestant  paralo- 
gism— is  that  the  testimony  of  early  Fathers  and  councils 
must  be  accepted  on  the  subject  of  the  canon  of  Holy 
Scripture,  but  not  on  the  subject  of  the  Church — its  Creed 
its  threefold  ministry,  its  Sacraments,  etc.  The  Presbyte- 
rian, Doctor  Miller,  who  could  appeal  to  St.  Ignatius  as 
authority  against  Unitarianism,  but  in  the  next  breath 
reject  him  in  toto  because  of  his  testimony  in  favor  of 
Episcopacy,  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  demoralized  reason- 
ing faculty  of  Dissent.  There  is,  forsooth,  an  Ecclesia 
Docens,  conciliar  authority,  patristic  testimony,  and  Cath- 
olic tradition,  when  private  judgment  wants  such  things  ; 
there  is  no  Ecclesia  Docens,  no  conciliar  authority,  no  pat- 
ristic testimony,  no  Catholic  tradition,  when  private  judg- 
ment wants  none.  Alpha  est  and  alpha  non  est  have  been 
sleeping  together  in  the  brain  of  Protestantism.  By  and 
by  the  landlord  will  find  that  he  really  cannot  accommo- 
date them  both  ;  that  he  cannot  consistently  hold  that 
there  is  a  Church,  and  that  there  is  no  Church.  If  he 
decide  that  there  is  a  Church,  then  he  must  conform  to  it ; 
if  he  decide  that  there  is  no  Church,  then  he  must  give  up 
his  Bible,  for  without  the  Church  he  cannot  know  what 

2.    Rom.,  xi.,  25. 


258         REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

the  Bible  is,  and  the  same  authorities  which  tell  him  of 
the  Bible,  tell  him  also  of  the  Church.  What  will  be  left 
of  Protestant  Dissent  when  it  gets  through  this  ordeal, 
God  only  knows.  From  such  an  ordeal,  however,  the 
Churchman  has  nothing  to  fear.  Take  away  his  Bible  if 
you  can  ;  he  still  has  the  Gospel  chrystallized  in  the  Creed 
and  the  Liturgy,  in  the  Sacraments  and  in  Catholic  tradi- 
tion. In  a  word,  he  has  the  Church  of  the  Living  God, 
THE  Pillar  and  Ground  of  the  Truth  ;  and  having 
the  Church,  he  has  all,  and  can  get  back  his  precious 
Bible,  for  the  Church  tells  him  what  it  is. 

II.  The  Anglican  Church  offers  the  strongest  guaran- 
tee for  the  keeping  of  the  Faith — "  When  the  Son  of  Man 
Cometh,  shall  He  find  the  Faith  on  the  earth ?  "^  Were  it 
not  for  the  Anglican  and  Greek  Churches,  the  answer 
would  be  doubtful  indeed. 

In  the  various  Churches  which  are  conglomerated  into 
the  "  Holy  Roman  Church,"  the  Catholic  Faith  is  overlaid 
(not  to  say  smothered)  with  the  creed  of  Pius  IV".,  a  part  of 
which  is  uncatholic  and  false,  and  with  the  false  dogmas 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  and  the  infallibility  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.  The  old  Faith  in  which  the  saints  and 
martyrs  were  saved  is  not  enough  now.  A  man  must 
also  believe  unsupported  assertions,  historical  contradic- 
tions, at  least  one  blasphemous  conceit,  and  a  host  of 
adiaphora,  or  be  damned.  And  one  of  the  saddest  specta- 
cles the  sun  sees,  is  the  apostacy  from  all  faith  which 
Rome  is  causing  among  her  children  to-day  by  enforcing 
falsehoods.     Rome,  as  a  CViwrc^,  still  holds  the  whole  Cath- 

3.    St.  Luke,  xviii.,  8. 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS.  259 


olic  Faith,  but  multitudes  prefer  to  risk  damnation  by 
believing  nothing,  rather  than  to  lower  themselves  to  the 
level  of  superstition,  credulity,  and  "  gullibility "  neces- 
sary to  make  one  believe  what  nature  and  common  sense, 
history  and  the  Bible,  the  undivided  Church  and  God 
Himself  proclaim  to  be  foolish  and  untrue.  I  refer,  of 
course,  to  the  impious  nonsense  of  "  papal  infallibility" 
and  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin— which  latter,  by  the  way,  is  a  fine  illus- 
tration of  the  truth  (!)  of  the  former,  as  fourteen  "  infalli- 
ble" pontifis  declared  it  a  heresy,  and  one  "infallible" 
pontiff  (Pius  IX.,  in  1854)  declared  it  a  dogma  of  the 
Faith  and  necessary  to  salvation ! !  (See  Littledale's 
"  Plain  Reasons,"  p.  167.)  It  is  said  that  a  little  girl  in  a 
Roman  Catholic  convent  school  naively  defined  faith  as, 
"  The  gift  of  God,  whereby  we  believe  what  we  know  to  be 
false."     It  is  a  kind  of  faith  needed  in  Rome  to-day. 

And  granted  a  man  knows  the  Roman  faith  to-day, 
what  will  it  be  to-morrow  ?  Is  infallibility  the  last  arti- 
cle of  the  Creed  ?  "  Infallibility  "  may  promulgate  a  new 
creed  to-morrow,  in  which  vagaries  as  false  and  absurd  as 
itself  may  be  declared  defide  and  necessary  to  salvation,  e. 
g.,ihe  ubiquity  of  St.  Joseph,  the  apotheosis  of  St.  Mary,  the 
real  presence  of  the  lac  Virginalis  in  the  Eucharist  (for  Roman 
theologians  abeady  teach  that  St.  Mary  is  present  in  the 
Eucharist,  and  especially  that  the  lac  Virginalis  is  received 
along  with  the  Sacrament  of  the  Blood  of  Christ,  (see 
Pusey's  Irenicon,  p.  160,  Et  Seq.),  or  the  sanctity  and  sal- 
vation of  "  Pope  Alexander  VI."  Rome  is  uncertain  in 
matters  of  faith. 

Protestant  Dissent  comprises  so  many  different  faiths 


260  REASONS  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

and  even  different  religions,  that  it  is  hard,  in  this  connec- 
tion to  speak  of  it  as  a  whole.  But  even  of  the  very  es- 
sence of  the  Faith,  the  Incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Consub- 
stantial  of  Son  of  God,  Sectarianism  has  been  and  is 
making  shipwreck.  Almost  everyone  of  the  Presbyterian 
congregations  existing  in  England  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury has  long  since  become  Unitarian.  The  apostacies 
from  Christianity  to  Socinianism,  of  the  French,  Dutch, 
Swiss,  and  German  Protestants,  are  simply  appalling.  In 
the  early  part  of  this  century  a  large  proportion  of  the 
Trinitarian  Congregationalists  of  New  England  denisd  the 
Lord  that  bought  them.  But  in  Connecticut  where  the 
Church  was  strong,  Unitarianism  never  gained  a  foot- 
hold. No  parish  of  the  Anglican  Church  ever  went  over 
to  Unitarianism."*  The  conservative  spirit  of  Anglicanism, 
fortified  by  the  Creeds,  the  liturgy,  and  the  Church  Year,  ^ 
makes  it  less  likely  that  the  Anglican  Church  will  either 
add  to  or  detract  from  the  Faith  than  that  either  Rome  or 
Dissent  will  do  so,  or  more  properly  will  continue  to 
do  so.  We  Anglo-Catholics  recognize  that  "the  Faith 
which  was  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  is  a  final  reve- 
lation. The  Creed  is  settled.  Our  aim  is  to  hold  it. 
Rome's  idea  is  to  develop  it ;  while  the  Protestant  idea 
is  for  each  man  to  pick  out  his  own  creed  from  the  Bible, 
or  rather  from  such  parts  of  it  as  meet  with  his  approval, 
and  from  his  own  inner  consciousness. 

Given   three  such  systems    of  keeping   the   Faith,  it 

4.  King's  Chapel,  Boston,  is  no  exception,  for  the  Church  had  been  seized 
by  Congregationalists  before  the  Apostacy  occurred.  They,  and  not  Churchmen, 
were  responsible. 

5.  "  Our  festival  year  is  a  bulwark  of  Orthodoxy  as  real  as  our  confession  of 
faith."— ^?-c7ier  Butler. 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS.  261 


stands  to  reason  that  the  Anglo-Catholic  is  surest  to  suc- 
ceed. Nevertheless,  we  must  admit  that  we  hold  these 
treasures  in  earthen  vessels;  and  it  behooves  us.  as  the 
Church  directs,  three  times  a  week  to  pray:  "From  false 
doctrine,  heresy  and  schism,  good  Lord  deliver  us,"  and 
from  our  heart  of  hearts  to  oflfer  the  petition  of  Trinity 
Sunday  (which  used  to  be  said  daily  in  our  Mother 
Church):  "  We  beseech  Thee  that  Thou  wouldst  keep  us 
steadfast  in  this  Faith." 

III.  Finally,  which  system  offers  the  best  basis  for  the 
reunion  of  Christendom  ? 

That  the  Papal  system  which  in  one  year,  this  century, 
lost  fully  2,000,000  of  subjects  (including  bishops  and 
priests)  to  the  Orthodox  Catholic  Church  of  Russia,  ^ 
which  cannot  even  hold  its  own  in  France  and  Spain  and 
Italy,  can  ever  succeed  in  bringing  the  Catholic  Churches 
of  the  Orientals  and  Anglo-Saxons,  and  the  four  hundred 
Protestant  sects,  under  the  Roman  yoke,  is  manifestly  ab- 
surd. Rome  makes  no  concessions.  She  has  burned  the 
ships  behind  her.  The  dogma  of  Papal  Infallibility  must 
be  retracted  before  Catholics  or  Protestants  will  be  able  to 
have  communion  with  the  Latin  Church.  It  is  a  doctrine 
so  absurd,  so  blasphemous,  so  obviously  false,  that  the 
Papacy  itself  is  cracking  under  the  strain  of  it. 

If  Rome  would  bring  about  the  reunion  of  Christen- 
dom, let  her  take  away  the  Papacy  and  mitigate  the  doc- 
trinal and  devotional  excesses  touching  the  Mother 
of  our  Lord.  There  would  remain  then  but  little  to  hinder 
a  Godly   union    and  concord  between  the    three    great 

6.  See  Dr.  Neale's  "The  Bible  and  the  Bible  only,  the  Religion  of  Protest- 
ants," p.  7,  and  Alloc,  of  Greg.  XVI.,  Nov.  16,  1839. 


262  REASON'S  FOR  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

branches  of  the  one  Catholic  Church.  But  this  is  simply 
to  return  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Anglo- 
Catholic  Church,  as  the  old  Catholics  on  the  Continent  have 
been  doing  ever  since  the  Vatican  Council.  Thoughtful 
Roman  Catholics  of  the  Galilean  School,  have  often  ac- 
knowledged that,  if  the  union  of  Christendom  ever  comes, 
it  must  be  through  the  medium  of  the  Anglican  Church.  ''' 
No  plan  for  the  reunion  of  Christendom,  however,  must 
pass  over  the  four  hundred  Protestant  sects,  some  of  which 
lack  little  of  Catholicity  save  the  Apostolic  Ministry. 
Between  Historic  Christendom  and  Protestant  Christen- 
dom there  is  just  one  connecting  link,  and  that  is  the 
Anglican  Church.  That  she  is  Catholic  we  have  seen. 
That  she  is  thoroughly  and  scripturally  reformed,  even 
radical  Protestants  admit,  for  they  insist  on  calling  her 
"  Protestant,"  and  our  Church  is  allowed  on  all  hands  to 
be  the  bulwarkof  the  Reformation.  No  reasonable  and 
devout  Dissenter  objects  to  joining  in  the  worship  of  the 
Anglican  Church,  and  Anglican  religious  writings  are  cur- 
rent among  all  Protestants.  For  orthodox  Dissenters 
to  conform  to  the  old  Church  is  no  sacrifice  of  principle. 
A  man,  for  instance,  may  not  be  fully  convinced  as  to  Apos- 
tolic Succession,  but  that  need  not  hinder  his  coming  into 
the  Church,  which  demands  of  her  children  only  the  sim- 

7.  See  Pusey's  Irenicon,  p.  197,  et  passim.  Even  Ultramontane  De  Maistre 
could  say:  "Si  jamais  les  Chretiens  se  rapprochent,  comme  tout  les  y  invite, 
1  semble  que  la  motion  doit  partir  de  V  Ejlise  de  VAngleterre.'"  (Considerations 
8ur  la  France,  c.  II.,  quoted  in  the  Irenicon,  p.  246)  If  Christians  ever  come 
together  again,  as  they  all  desire,  it  is  evident  that  the  movement  must  originate 
with  the  English  Church. 

Joseph  Le  Marche,  the  celebrated  ultramontane,  said  that  the  Anglican 
Church,  touching,  as  she  did,  upon  what  was  great  and  noble  in  Protestantism 
and  upon  the  fundamental  truths  of  Catholicism,  was  the  chemical  solvent  to 
bring  about  a  possible  united  Christendom. 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS.  263 


pie  faith  of  the  Apostles,  the  Creed.  Surely  he  cannot 
think  a  clergyman  who  is  episcopally  ordained,  is  any  less 
a  priest  or  minister  than  one  congregationally  ordained  ; 
that  is,  not  ordained  at  all. 

Nothing  in  all  the  world  so  retards  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity as  the  divisions  among  Christians.  In  seeking 
re-union,  therefore,  we  ought  all  of  us  to  be  willing  to  give 
up  non-essential  innovations  and  to  restore  vital  or  desir- 
able things  which  have  been  dropped.  If  Rome  would 
leave  off  insisting  on  such  innovations  as  the  infallibility 
and  supremacy  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  the  other 
leading  novelties  which  in  the  nature  of  things  cannot  be 
essential,  the  result  would  be  a  return  to  unadulterated 
Catholicism,  to  the  principles  which  underlay  the  ancient 
Church,  and  which  are  to-day  the  basis  of  the  Holy  East- 
ern, the  Anglican,  and  the  Old  Cathohc  Churches. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  Protestants  simply  restore  what 
they  have  cast  ofif,  at  least  the  Apostolic  ministry  which 
Christ  ordained,  the  primitive  universal  Creed  and  Sacra- 
ments, accepting  enough  of  the  Divine  Liturgy  to  insure 
the  regular  administration  of  the  latter,  and  Protestants 
would  find  themselves  Catholics  of  the  Anglican,  Oriental, 
primitive  type. 

All  Protestants  combined  cannot  reasonably  expect 
Catholic  Christendom  (viz. :  The  Anglican,  the  Greek,  and 
the  Roman  Churches,  to  say  nothing  of  the  old  Catholics, 
Nestorians  and  Copts)  to  give  up  the  Nicene  Creed  and 
the  Apostolic  Succession.  Almost  nine-tenths  of  Chris- 
tians are  Episcopalians,  believing  in  the  Episcopal  form  of 
Church  order,  and  in  the  necessity  of  Episcopal  ordina- 
tion ;  and  they  have  always  believed  so  from  the  begin- 


264         REASONS  FOR.  BEING  A  CHURCHMAN. 

ning.  They  believe  that  to  give  up  their  Apostolic  Suc- 
cession would  be  to  un-Church  themselves  forever.  But 
no  Protestant  believes  that  (from  his  own  standpoint)  it 
would  unchurch  him  to  have  the  ministry  of  his  church 
ordained  by  a  bishop  instead  of  a  layman. 

In  short,  Christians  have  erred  in  two  ways.  The  Ro- 
manists have  added  many  things.  The  Protestants  have 
cast  off  many  things.  Between  these  two  extremes  lies 
the  only  ground  of  union,  and  that  ground  happens,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  to  be  occupied  by  the  Anglo-Cath- 
olic  Church.  She  has  all  the  good  things  which  Rome 
has — the  Creeds,  the  Bible,  the  Ministry,  the  Sacraments, 
the  worship  and  the  traditions  of  the  Catholic  Church — 
without  the  objectionable  additions.  At  the  same  time 
she  certainly  has  all  the  good  things  which  Protestants 
have,  without  their  defects. 

In  effecting  the  re-union  of  the  scattered  sheep  of  Christ, 
the  Anglican  plan  would  not  necessitate  the  submission 
of  all  Christians  to  the  English  Church,  but  merely  a 
return  to  Catholic  Faith,  order,  Sacraments  and  worship 
among  us  all,  so  that  there  might  be  inter-communion. 
All  the  Anglo -Catholic  Church  would  ask  for  herself,  is 
that  she  be  recognized  as  the  Catholic  Church  of  so  much 
of  the  world  as  fairly  comes  under  her  jurisdiction,  viz.: 
the  British  Empire  and  the  American  Republic.  The 
other  Churches  would  only  need  to  return  to  their  ancient 
integrity,  and  there  would  at  once  be  full  inter-communion. 

I  do  not  say  that  Christendom  will  ever  be  united  on 
Anglo-Catholic  principles  ;  but  I  do  affirm  that  the  only 
reunion  which  can  take  in  both  extremes  must  be  on  the 
general  principles  of  the  reformed  Catholic  religion,  which 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS.  265 

are  the  peculiar  heritage  of  the  English-speaking  race. 
**  Thus  saith  the  Lord:  Stand  ye  in  the  ways,  and  see  and 
ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk 
therein. "8  To-day  Dissenters  are  looking  more  and  more 
favorably  on  the  old  Mother  Church ;  and  wherever  re- 
form is  being  attempted  in  the  down-trodden  national 
Churches  of  the  Roman  obedience,  it  is  the  Anglican 
Church  that  is  looked  to  for  help  and  for  guidance  ;  it  is 
the  Anglo-Catholic  Reformation,  rather  than  the  revolu- 
tions of  Luther  and  Calvin,  that  is  taken  for  a  pattern. 
Dissenters,  Jansenists,  old  Catholics,  Nestorians,  Copts, 
look  to  us  for  help  and  inter-communion.  We  have  par- 
tial and  growing  inter-communion  with  the  Greek  Church, 
and  have  many  bonds  of  sympathy  even  with  our  cruel 
sister,  the  Church  of  Rome.  If  any  other  part  of  Christen- 
dom can  offer  a  better  starting-point  for  re-union,  what 
is  it? 

To  sum  up,  then,  because  on  the  whole  the  Anglo-Cath- 
olic  Church  has  the  brightest  outlook,  as  the  dominant 
religion  of  the  dominant  race  of  men :  because  it  is  the 
Burest  to  keep  the  Faith  till  the  Master  comes;  and  be- 
cause it  offers  the  only  possible  basis  for  the  re-union 
of  Christendom,  there  is  stronger  reason,  based  on  the 
argument  from  futurity,  for  being  a  Churchman  rather  than 
for  being  a  Recusant  or  a  Dissenter.  But  be  the  outlook 
what  it  may;  be  the  present  condition  of  our  Church 
as  gloomy  as  when  there  were  but  seven  thousand  wor- 
shippers of  God  in  all  Israel,  the  fact  remains  that,  of 
the  three  divisions  of  English-speaking  Christians,  the 
Anglo-Catholic  Church  is  the  one  which,  in  accordance 

8.    Jer.,  vi.,  16. 


266         REASONS  FOR  BEINQ  A  CHURCHMAN. 


with  the  Bible  and  with  history,  has  continued  most  stead- 
fastly in  all  the  essentials  of  Apostolic  Faith  and  Fellow- 
ship, Sacraments  and  Worship,  and  which  alone  has  Di- 
vine authority  and  lawful  jurisdiction  over  the  children  of 
God  in  the  British  Empire  and  the  American  Republic. 

"  0  Holy  Jesu,  King  of  the  Saints  and  Prince  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  preserve  Thy  spouse,  whom  Thou  hast  purchased  with 
Thy  right  hand,  and  redeemed  and  cleansed;  the  whole  Catholic 
Church  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other;  she  is  founded 
upon  a  rock,  but  planted  in  the  sea,  0  preserve  her  safe  from 
schism,  heresy,  and  sacrilege.  Unite  all  h&r  members  with  the 
bands  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  and  an  external  communion, 
when  it  shall  seem  good  in  Thine  eyes.  Let  the  daily  sacrifice  of 
prayer  and  sacramental  thanksgiving  never  cease,  but  be  forever 
presented  to  Thee,  and  forever  united  to  the  intercession  of  her 
dearest  Lord,  and  forever  prevail  for  the  obtaining  for  every  of 
its  members,  grace  and  blessing,  pardon  and  salvation.    Amen." 


FINIS. 


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